More than 3 million ballots cast early in NC

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Election Day is not until Tuesday, but more than three million voters in North Carolina have already cast their ballot.

According to the NC Board of Elections, 44 percent of registered voters in North Carolina had voted through in-person early voting or by sending in an absentee ballot.

The 17-day early voting period was scheduled to end at 1 p.m. across the state, but the Board of Elections said anyone in line by 1 p.m. at an early-voting site would be allowed to cast their ballot.

As of early this afternoon, the Board of Elections said 2.9 million North Carolinians had cast in-person ballots during early voting. That’s a 13.4-percent increase over 2012.

Early voting this year is already about the same as the total voter turnout for the 2014 mid-term election. Overall turnout for the 2012 presidential election in North Carolina was 68.3 percent. The state’s modern turnout record is 69.6 percent in 2008.

Voting continues on Election Day Tuesday. Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

You can watch live Election Night coverage on WWAY and ABC starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, including a special commercial-free edition of WWAY NEWS at 11 p.m.