Record numbers of North Carolinians have voted early

Plus more political news as we head into next week’s primary election day.

Welcome back to Down from DC. We’ve been watching early voting numbers to get a sense of whether voters here are energized ahead of this year’s midterm election.

So far, it seems like they are.

As of Thursday, the N.C. Board of Elections reported that 475,455, out of more than 7 million registered voters, had cast a ballot in either the Democratic or Republican primary ahead of next week’s primary Election Day. It’s too soon to draw any sweeping conclusions about what these numbers mean. But Michael Bitzer, director of the Center for N.C. Politics at Catawba College, found that during the first twelve days of early voting, more North Carolinians cast early ballots than in either the 2022 midterms or the 2024 presidential primary.

“North Carolina’s 2026 primary electorate is not just ahead of past cycles—it is potentially reshaping expectations about which party is energized, who is participating, and how they’re voting,” Bitzer wrote this week.

Courtesy of Michael Bitzer

If you or someone you know still has questions about where and how to vote, check out our voting guide. Remember, early voting ends Saturday afternoon and polls open again Tuesday morning for Election Day. We’ll know more about turnout and what it means after all the votes are counted next week.

Courtesy of Michael Bitzer

In the meantime, here’s what our team is reading.

The latest in the incomplete voter records saga

A legal fight over North Carolina’s voter rolls has ended with a settlement that keeps more than 70,000 voters from being removed. The Republican National Committee and North Carolina GOP sued the N.C. State Board of Elections in 2024 to contest the registrations for 250,000 voters because their files lacked a driver’s license or Social Security number. Some voters have updated their files and now, under the new deal, the NCBE will continue to collect information but won’t purge remaining contested voters. Instead, voters can update their record when they show ID at the polls or cast provisional ballots.

The settlement doesn’t affect the 241,000 voters who received letters this year from the board of elections asking them to provide more information for their voter record. These voters are eligible to vote but the letters caused confusion. Nor does it affect a lawsuit filed by College Democrats of North Carolina against state and county election boards to reinstate early voting sites at N.C. A&T State University, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina University.

Are any primaries here on the national radar?

Yes. The Assembly reported that PACs and Super PACs are pouring millions of dollars into the 4th Congressional District Democratic primary race between incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee and challenger Nida Allam – who currently serves as a Durham County commissioner.

The 11th Congressional District in western N.C. is also attracting national money and attention. NC Newsline reported this week that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is promising to support Jamie Ager, a 4th generation farmer from just outside Asheville, before he has even won the nomination to oppose GOP incumbent Chuck Edwards.

Michele Morrow has also been getting a lot of press in North Carolina for her campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Morrow came from behind in 2024 to win the Republican nomination for Superintendent of Public Instruction, a race she ultimately lost to Democrat Mo Green. But as The Assembly reports, she is counting on her name recognition to overcome Trump’s endorsement of former Republican National Committee Chair and front runner Michael Whatley.

How serious is the primary challenge against Phil Berger?

Considered the most powerful Republican in North Carolina by many, Senate President Pro-Tem Phil Berger is in a close primary race with Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. How that race shapes up next week will say a lot about our politics and the power local sheriffs wield in this state.

Can Democrats crack the rural-urban divide?

The Democratic National Committee is launching an “eight-figure” effort to win back rural voters, with North Carolina at the center of the strategy, Christa Dutton reports for NOTUS. “It’s the first time the committee has a program dedicated specifically to rural voters,” she wrote.

National Democrats aren’t the only ones working to mobilize rural voters. Rev. William Barber II, the former head of the North Carolina NAACP and founder of the “Moral Monday” protest movement, led a three-day walk earlier this month from Wilson to Raleigh to encourage voting in eastern N.C. Ashley Mitchell, a staff attorney at the law and policy center at Forward Justice, was among the thousands who joined the finale outside the old state Capitol. “They’re starting to understand their rights more, and they’re excited to get out to the polls in November,” she told the News & Observer.

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