Mountain Voters Are Casting Ballots at a Record Clip as Early Voting Enters Its Final Week

(Photo: Infrogmation / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Mountain Buzz

Staff Report

With a week left before Election Day, mountain voters are casting early ballots at rates that are outrunning the state around them — and shattering midterm records on both sides of the state line.

In Towns County, 4,024 people — 35 percent of the county's registered voters — had already voted by this weekend, among the highest turnout rates in Georgia, according to state elections data. Next door in Union County, 6,610 voters, or 28.4 percent, had cast ballots. By comparison, about one in seven Georgia voters statewide had voted as of Oct. 20.

Georgia blew past 1.5 million early ballots late last week, and the Secretary of State's office reported in-person voting running 12 percent ahead of the 2022 midterms — a cycle that itself set records. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has credited the surge to voter confidence, saying the strong turnout "reflects the work our 159 county election officials do to make our elections free, fair, and fast."

North Carolina's numbers are bigger still. Approximately 1.54 million ballots had been accepted statewide through Saturday, about 37 percent ahead of the same point in 2022, according to an analysis of State Board of Elections data by Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper. One in five registered voters in the state has already cast a ballot, up from 15 percent at this point four years ago.

Nearly all of the growth is happening in person. North Carolinians have cast more than 1.48 million ballots at early voting sites, up about 43 percent from 2022, while mail ballots are down roughly 35 percent. Georgia's mountain counties show the same pattern: of Union County's 6,610 early voters, 6,214 voted in person and just 396 by mail.

Cherokee and Clay counties opened with record first days — 515 ballots in Cherokee, up 25.9 percent from 2022, and 301 in Clay, up 30.9 percent — and neither county offers Sunday voting. They are not alone: only seven of North Carolina's 100 counties opened their early voting sites on Sundays this year, down from 23 in 2022, yet those seven still surpassed their 2022 Sunday totals, a sign of how determined voters are to cast ballots whenever the doors are open.

What is driving them is a ballot topped by marquee races on both sides of the line. Georgia voters are deciding a U.S. Senate race between Sen. Jon Ossoff and challenger Mike Collins, plus an open governor's race between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat pits Democrat Roy Cooper against Republican Michael Whatley to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis.

The window is now closing. Georgia advance voting ends Friday, Oct. 30, and North Carolina early voting ends Saturday, Oct. 31, at 3 p.m. After that, the only option is Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.

If you still need to vote:

• Union County: 33 Roscoe Collins Drive, Blairsville — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 30. Elections office: 706-439-6016.

• Towns County: Towns County Civic Center, 67 Lakeview Circle, Suite A, Hiawassee — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 30.

• Cherokee County: Board of Elections office, 40 Peachtree St., Murphy — weekdays 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through Friday, and Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Office: 828-837-6670.

• Clay County: Board of Elections office, 75 Riverside Circle, Suite 3, Hayesville — weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, and Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Confirm hours with the county board.

North Carolina voters who missed the registration deadline can still register and vote the same day at any early voting site in their county through Oct. 31, with a photo ID and proof of address. Georgia's registration deadline has passed, but voters can confirm their status on the Secretary of State's My Voter Page. On Election Day, Georgia polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters must go to their assigned precinct.