By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
After several days, early voting in North Carolina for the 2026 midterm elections is breaking records as citizens are lining up across the state to cast their ballots either for or against candidates in local, state and federal offices.
On Oct. 15th, the first day of One Stop Early Voting across the state, a record 237,541 ballots total were cast (which included 201,609 in-person votes; 29,631 civilian mail-in votes; 753 military mail-in votes; and 5,548 overseas votes), comprising 3.01% of the total eligible voters registered in North Carolina.
That 201,609 in-person total ballots on the first day of early voting for the 2026 midterms in North Carolina also surpassed the previous first day in-person early voting record of 137,387 in 2022, an increase of 46.7% over four years ago.
In terms of voting by race on the first day of early midterm voting, while white turnout statewide on the first day of early voting was 156,552 or 66% of the vote Oct. 15th, Black voters comprised 56, 057, or 24% of the first day early vote.
Those numbers are significant taking into account North Carolina’s voter registration statistics by race. Whites comprise 63%, and Black voters are registered at 19%, while voters who describe themselves as “other” are 18%.
In that same vein, the first day of early midterm voting saw Democrats lead the way with 111,484 for 47% of the total turnout, Republicans with 46,341 for 20% of turnout, and unaffiliated at 79,256 for 33% of turnout.
In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters lead all with over 40% of voters registered, followed Republicans with 30% registered, and then Democrats with over 29%.
Michael Bitzer with the Center for NC Politics & Public Service at Catawba College further analyzed who came out to vote on the first day of 2026 midterm early voting in North Carolina, and offered the following:
“One final data point to watch over the next two-plus weeks: are these early voters ‘high propensity’ voters, meaning they voted in the four past elections, and if so, what is their party breakdowns and are they using the same vote methods as they cast a ballot in the past?”
2026 midterm early voting will last from Oct. 15th to Oct. 31st. The total number of voters who participated in the 2022 midterm early voting in North Carolina was a record 3,786,904.
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