By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com

A week after early voting began in North Carolina, voter turnout is setting records statewide – and in Lee County – as people try to beat the crowds when Election Day comes on November 5.

As of the closing of the early voting sites at the Bob Hales Center in the downtown business sector of Sanford and the McSwain Center on Tramway Road on Wednesday, a total of 11,308 people had cast ballots. With 41,142 people registered to vote in Lee County, that means that just over 27 percent of all people eligible to vote in the county had done so. Through Wednesday, the early vote total is just over 48 percent of Lee County’s entire vote in 2020.

The largest turnout so far was on October 17, the first day of early voting, when 2,369 voters came to be among the first people in the state to cast their ballots. Lee County Elections Director Jane Rae Fawcett told The Rant she believes that number to be a record, something she will be able to verify after the election process is over.

The number who went on October 18, was nearly as strong, with 2,004 registered voters coming out. Turnout remained strong for each of the following days, with 1,122 people on October 19, 613 on Sunday, and 1,980 on Monday. Tuesday’s total was 1,739 and the number of voters on Wednesday was 1,481.

In 2020, the last presidential election in American, 84 percent of the total votes cast in the United States were made during the early voting periods.

Early voting is happening at only two sites in Lee County – the Hales Center on McIver Street and the McSwain Center on Tramway Road – and will end on Saturday, November 2, at 3 p.m. If you haven’t voted by that time, you can still vote on Election Day, which is November 5. The polls will open that day at 6:30 a.m. and stay open until they close at 7:30 p.m.

When will we know who won? In 2020, the first election results in North Carolina were reported at 7:42 p.m. and by midnight, 99 percent of all votes that were cast had been counted. In Lee County, look for the results to come in sometime after 10 p.m. The Board of Elections office historically reports results for all ten precincts at once when they have all been reported to the office and properly signed for.

At each precinct, the machines are locked after the last vote is cast and then secured and escorted to a vehicle belonging to a member of the elections team, who drives them to the Elections Board office. There, the results from each machine are tabulated and combined into one overall results sheet, and these results are the ones that will be reported to Raleigh and shared with the public that evening or early on Wednesday morning, November 6.

By the numbers

Here are just a few of the more interesting ways to look at the demographic that influence the outcomes of voting in Lee County.

The majority of registered voters in Lee County in 2024 – 15,608 of them – list ‘Unaffiliated’ as their party preference, and that designation has topped all others for the last couple of election cycles. The county had been historically dominated by Democratic voters for most of its first 100 years of history, but a few weeks ago, the Lee County Republican Party passed the local Democratic Party in the number of voters registered to vote.

As of October 19, there were 12,631 voters in the county who listed ‘Republican’ as their party of preference, compared to 12,435 who are registered as Democrats. Six other parties – Libertarian (308), No Labels (138), Green (17), Justice For All (2), We The People (2), and Constitution (0) – make up the remaining 468 voters. Because of same day registration during early voting, those numbers will vary slightly from day to day, but not likely enough to change the balance of power when the votes come in.

Another key demographic this year is gender, with men generally favoring former President Trump and women tending to favor Vice President Harris. Here in Lee County, the total of registered voters favors women, and that’s a statistic that reflects trends in North Carolina and the nation. Of all registered voters in Lee County, 58 percent of them are women, compared to 42 percent that are men. Abortion has been an item of discussion across the county since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 and this is the first presidential election cycle since then to see what impact that decision has on the public.

Ethnicity can sometimes be a factor in how people vote. As of October 19, 26,186 of the county’s 41,142 registered voters listed their ethnicity as white, representing 63.6 percent of the total population of registered voters within the county. 7,528, or 18.3 percent, listed their ethnicity as black, with the next largest group, Hispanics, having 3,773 registered voters, or 9.17 percent of the county’s voting bloc.

Not registered and want to vote? Do it during early voting!

When you check in at either of the two early voting sites this year, you may update your name and/or address in the county’s election file, provided they are within Lee County. If you are not registered to vote and wish to do so for this election, North Carolina law allows for same day registration during the early voting period. It is not an option for most people on Election Day. Be sure to bring proof of your residence when you come to vote.

Remember also that all voters will be asked to show an approved form of photo ID when they check in to vote this year. If you don’t have a photo ID, you can get one for free this year at the Board of Elections office at 1503 Elm Street in Sanford.

The State Board of Elections in Raleigh has sent out several press releases to each of the 100 counties that all voters should respect the rights of others to participate in the election. Lee County’s election officials have been highly trained to quickly address any incident that might interfere with a voter’s ability to cast their ballot. Intimidating any voter is a crime. Voters who feel harassed or intimidated should notify an election official immediately.

At the same time, the supporters of any candidate or party also have First Amendment rights of freedom of speech to express their support in a designated zone outside the polling place.

Those supporters have the right to approach voters in a practice known as electioneering, which usually consists of a volunteer working on behalf of a candidate or a slate of candidates, offering the voter palm cards or flyers in an identified zone that is typically no less than 25 feet and no more than 50 feet from the entrance to the polling place where voting is taking place. Those supporters are free to offer voters this information, but any voter who feels that this level of attention has escalated to harassment should seek the attention of a voting official.

Early voting ends on Saturday, November 2, at 3 p.m.