Yesterday, Oct. 31, early voting ended in North Carolina. According to the Jackson County Board of Elections (BOE), 17,082 people voted early in Jackson County. At WCU’s University Center, 2,561 people voted by the end of the early voting period.
“It’s been a good turnout,” said Lisa Lovedahl, Jackson County BOE director. “I’ve seen higher ones, but it’s been good for the last day, and hopefully, it just means that a lot of people also show up on Election Day.”
Jackson County Republicans campaigning a few feet outside of the Jackson County Board of Elections. Photo by Nicole Ellison.
Of those 17,082 votes, 2,671 were submitted by mail-in absentee ballots. According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 3,607,874 people have voted early. Of those votes, 929,127 were submitted by absentee ballot.
“We have seen a lot of in-person and definitely more absentee by mail than we’ve ever seen before,” Lovedahl said.
Voting by mail has become increasingly popular during the 2020 election thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. This influx of mail-in ballots is expected to delay the election results significantly, and the deadline to request an absentee ballot was on Oct. 27. Whichever way you choose to vote, the Jackson County BOE is ready to accommodate any voter, Lovedahl said.
“It just really depends on your needs. There [is] some extra work with absentee by mail and in-person safety, but these guys are doing really good about making sure that all safety measures are in place, [like] cleaning after each voter,” Lovedahl said. “So, I think that poll workers are doing really good to make sure it’s fast and safe to vote in person.”
Stories of long lines at polling places have come up all across the country, and Jackson County was no exception.
“At the Jackson County BOE, on the first day we opened, the line was going all the way out to the railroad tracks,” said Ryan Meyer, a poll worker at the BOE.
Even with the long lines, however, the poll workers were able to make sure that people were voting quickly and effectively.
“There have been times where the line has been long, but even with the long line, the precinct workers have done such a great job
Jackson County Democrats campaigning a few feet outside of the Jackson County Board of Elections. Photo by Nicole Ellison.
that, at one point, they were doing a voter a minute,” Lovedahl said. “So, no longer than twenty minutes I saw anybody have to wait.”
While many states have reported counts of voter intimidation, Jackson County has experienced none.
Jackson County’s high turnout for early voting may be a good sign that there will be even more voters ready on Election Day, Nov. 3.
“Considering that roughly half of the electorate has already voted, I can’t say that [the turnout on Election Day] would be that much greater,” said Meyer. “But I would imagine that it would be busier on Election Day just simply because all the people would be compressed into one time of voting.”
This story was written for the 2020 Elections Coverage class.
