People in North Carolina, who are still getting over the damage from Hurricane Florence, set a new record for early voting on the first day in the state.
Even though the recovery from Hurricane Helene is still going on, 353,166 early voters went to the polls on Thursday to choose between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House. Just barely more than the previous high of 348,599 people who voted on the first day, which was set in 2020.
As reported by The Washington Post, an extra 152,373 voters cast early votes on Friday.
This week, Georgia, another key state, also broke its record for the most early voters on the first day of the election. In Georgia, more than 300,000 people voted on Tuesday, and almost 300,000 more people voted on Wednesday.
In a race that polls show is still close, it’s not clear which candidate might gain the most from people voting early.
Helene did a lot of damage to the western part of the state. The mountain city of Asheville was cut off from the rest of the state, and the small town of Chimney Rock Village was almost erased. The new data shows that it hasn’t stopped people from voting, not even in that hard-hit area.
Karen Brinson Bell, who runs the state board of elections, said Thursday, “I know that thousands of North Carolinians lost so much in this storm.” “This terrible event will change their lives forever.” People in western North Carolina did not lose their right to vote in this important race, though.
The 75-year-old Bill Whalen of Asheville told The Associated Press that “everyone in my community knows how important this election is and how important it is to vote.”