Early voting reached its conclusion on Saturday with a record number of Orange County residents casting their ballot before Election Day.

59,766 voters in Orange County took part in early voting with Election Day still to come on Tuesday.

Polls showed that voters were eager to get to the ballot box after a particularly long and controversial election cycle.

The 2016 early voting turnout was up more than 9,500 voters from the 2012 total of 50,234.

Multiple surveys of likely North Carolina voters showed Democrats holding large lead over their Republican counterparts among early voters.

The Tar Heel state has been called a “must-have” state if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is going to win the White House. Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have been locked in a tight battle in North Carolina with both candidates and their surrogates spending a lot of time in the state.

North Carolina is in a unique position because in addition to being a key swing state in the presidential election, the state is home to one of the most expensive and contentious gubernatorial races in the country between Republican incumbent Governor Pat McCrory and Democratic challenger Attorney General Roy Cooper.

The leadership in the United States Senate may also be decided by the outcome of the senate race in North Carolina between incumbent Republican Richard Burr and Democratic challenger Deborah Ross.

With Election Day coming up on Tuesday, the political ads and commentary is close to coming to a conclusion, but North Carolina will continue to be under the microscope over the next two days.

All of Orange County’s 44 precincts will be open from 6:30 Tuesday morning until 7:30 in the evening on Election Day.

WCHL will have live coverage on Election Night as the returns come in from across the state.

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