Staggering Number of Early Votes Leads to Low Election Day Turnout in Orange County

Election Day looked a little different this year as North Carolina and the country took advantage of early voting like never before.

In the Tar Heel state, more than 4.5 million voters cast their ballots ahead of Election Day. That is more than 95 percent of all North Carolina voters who cast ballots in 2016.

According to the U.S. Elections Project, more than 101 million early votes were cast nationwide – an unprecedented total representing 73.4 percent of the total votes counted in the 2016 general election.

Because of the staggering number of people who voted early in North Carolina, turnout at the polls was much lighter than usual on Election Day – especially in Orange County.

In North Carolina, polls opened at 6:30 a.m. Over in Hillsborough, Kevin Bragg wasn’t going to miss his chance to cast his ballot. He was the first in line to vote at the Whitted Building polling place as soon as the doors opened.

“It was on the way to work and I figured there wouldn’t be too many people here so I wanted to make sure I got it in,” Bragg said.

Despite the pandemic and the accessibility of early and mail-in voting, Bragg said casting his ballot on Election Day itself was important to him.

“It feels more like an election when you do it on Election Day,” Bragg said.

The first voters enter the Whitted Building in Hillsborough as polls open at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 3. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)

While a million people were expected to cast their ballots on Election Day in North Carolina, Orange County polling sites remained relatively empty.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, more than 67 percent of eligible voters in Orange County had already cast their ballot prior to Election Day. In Chatham County, that percentage sat around 75 percent.

Remaining voters, like Bragg, made a conscious decision to wait until Tuesday to cast their ballot. Hillsborough resident Brian Burgess said he waited to vote on Election Day less so for the tradition of it and more for the reassurance that his vote would be properly counted.

“I think with the masks and coming out early and being able to social distance – I think it’s the safest way overall to make sure our vote actually makes it here,” Burgess said.

Nationwide, more than 93 million mail-in ballots were requested this election. In North Carolina, residents requested nearly 1.5 million of that grand total. Despite the popularity of voting by mail amid the pandemic, Burgess said he wasn’t taking any chances when it came to his vote being counted.

As of 4 p.m. on Election Day, more than 26 million ballots were still marked as “outstanding” – Burgess wanted to make sure his ballot wasn’t one of them.

“The mail thing made me nervous with everything in the news so I think just coming in person – you know like I said it’s nice that they open up early and we could come before we work and get it done,” Burgess said.

Find a photo gallery of local polling sites on Election Day here.

For more local, state and national election coverage, click here.

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Staggering Number of Early Votes Leads to Low Election Day Turnout in Orange County

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