Early voting is here to stay. That being said, there were many problems - long lines, not enough voting sites, not enough machines - which fortunately can be fixed. These will have to be fixed before the next national election in 2012. Some of these problems can be attributed to the localities not being prepared for the onslaught of these early voters. This was after all the first presidential election that had widespread early voting available. On top of that, we had a campaign (Obama) that made a huge effort to not only register more voters, but a coordinated GOTV effort for both early and election day voting.
But beyond being unprepared, we had other Secretaries of State (Republicans) in some battleground states trying to suppress turnout by making it as hard as possible to early vote. This was done by limiting the amount of early voting sites, limiting the hours/days it was available, and refusing to open up more sites when it became clear that people were waiting up to 8 hours to vote. (Hello, Ms. Handel in Georgia! Thank you, Gov. Crist.)
Of course, Republican suppression can be explained by the conventional wisdom that early voting is "better" for Democratic candidates since it allows many of the working poor who work odd shifts and/or multiple jobs a better chance to find a time to vote. But, early voting is also a test of a campaign's GOTV operation. As the GOP's "vaunted" (well, maybe not vaunted this past election) 72 hour GOTV operation was geared toward a quick and massive GOTV operation in the last week of the campaign, early voting has forced them to try and change this operation. Some states had early voting starting up to a month before election day meaning that GOTV had to be a process that started up to 6 weeks before election day all the way to election day. It also changed the way the campaigns were run. Advertising in the last couple weeks of the campaign did not effect the early voters. Their votes were already banked. Playing to their fears at the last minute just didn't have the same effect compared to when all voting was on one day.
That being said, the Democrats have an opportunity here to codify nationwide early voting, at least for federal elections. Now, I am no lawyer so it's not clear to me whether having federally mandated early voting would be constitutional or not, but it seems to me that politically, it is a win-win proposition for the Democrats. Additionally, if a law were passed to mandate early voting, one thing that would have to be included is some sort of standard on how many early voting sites had to be made available.
It would seem to me that a certain number of sites should be available per some set number of registered voters in a county. Also included should be a minimum number of voting machines per site. Let's say that each county had to have at least one early voting site for every 40,000 registered voters in each county and at least 10 machines per site. This would allow approximately 12,000 - 15,000 voters to vote during a two week period without much of a wait.
Well, let's look at some of the early voting state's numbers to see what this would mean in terms of eliminating some of those huge lines.
FLORIDA
Counties | Registered Voters | Turnout | Turnout % | Total Early Vote | % Early Vote Turnout | % Election Day Turnout | Number of Early Voting Sites | Registered Voters Per Site | Preferred Number of Early Voting Sites |
Alachua | 154,706 | 126,275 | 81.6 | 53,556 | 34.6 | 47.0 | 3 | 51,569 | 4 |
Baker | 14,172 | 11,155 | 78.7 | 5,331 | 37.6 | 41.1 | 2 | 7,086 | 1 |
Bay | 110,739 | 81,691 | 73.8 | 29,404 | 26.6 | 47.2 | 3 | 36,913 | 3 |
Bradford | 15,732 | 11,776 | 74.9 | 4,430 | 28.2 | 46.7 | 1 | 15,732 | 1 |
Brevard | 351,488 | 289,815 | 82.5 | 51,880 | 14.8 | 67.7 | 6 | 58,581 | 9 |
Broward | 1,008,656 | 735,986 | 73.0 | 240,987 | 23.9 | 49.0 | 19 | 53,087 | 25 |
Calhoun | 8,622 | 6,316 | 73.3 | 2,157 | 25.0 | 48.3 | 1 | 8,622 | 1 |
Charlotte | 118,837 | 86,021 | 72.4 | 33,578 | 28.3 | 44.1 | 6 | 19,806 | 3 |
Citrus | 102,742 | 76,840 | 74.8 | 28,011 | 27.3 | 47.5 | 5 | 20,548 | 3 |
Clay | 120,656 | 94,761 | 78.6 | 39,132 | 32.4 | 46.1 | 5 | 24,131 | 4 |
Collier | 203,075 | 143,017 | 70.5 | 52,734 | 26.0 | 44.5 | 7 | 29,011 | 6 |
Columbia | 38,272 | 28,360 | 74.1 | 12,950 | 33.8 | 40.3 | 2 | 19,136 | 1 |
DeSoto | 15,613 | 10,198 | 65.4 | 3,765 | 24.1 | 41.2 | 1 | 15,613 | 1 |
Dixie | 10,775 | 7,376 | 68.5 | 1,744 | 16.2 | 52.3 | 1 | 10,775 | 1 |
Duval | 536,588 | 415,146 | 77.4 | 183,420 | 34.2 | 43.2 | 16 | 33,537 | 14 |
Escambia | 195,193 | 155,404 | 79.7 | 49,182 | 25.2 | 54.4 | 4 | 48,798 | 5 |
Flagler | 60,079 | 49,352 | 82.2 | 22,458 | 37.4 | 44.8 | 4 | 15,020 | 2 |
Franklin | 7,722 | 6,129 | 79.4 | 1,943 | 25.2 | 54.2 | 2 | 3,861 | 1 |
Gadsden | 30,128 | 22,623 | 75.1 | 10,565 | 35.1 | 40.0 | 4 | 7,532 | 1 |
Gilchrist | 10,721 | 7,866 | 73.4 | 2,209 | 20.6 | 52.8 | 2 | 5,361 | 1 |
Glades | 6,584 | 3,380 | 51.3 | 595 | 9.0 | 42.3 | 1 | 6,584 | 1 |
Gulf | 9,123 | 7,270 | 79.7 | 3,308 | 36.3 | 43.4 | 2 | 4,562 | 1 |
Hamilton | 7,688 | 5,651 | 73.5 | 1,542 | 20.0 | 53.5 | 1 | 7,688 | 1 |
Hardee | 11,802 | 7,476 | 63.3 | 3,271 | 27.7 | 35.6 | 1 | 11,802 | 1 |
Hendry | 16,936 | 10,975 | 64.8 | 4,872 | 28.8 | 36.0 | 2 | 8,468 | 1 |
Hernando | 123,013 | 88,624 | 72.0 | 23,098 | 18.8 | 53.1 | 2 | 61,507 | 4 |
Highlands | 66,092 | 45,404 | 68.7 | 20,805 | 31.5 | 37.2 | 3 | 22,031 | 2 |
Hillsborough | 701,464 | 515,983 | 73.4 | 146,574 | 20.9 | 52.5 | 13 | 53,959 | 18 |
Holmes | 11,513 | 8,718 | 75.7 | 2,589 | 22.5 | 53.2 | 1 | 11,513 | 1 |
Indian River | 90,053 | 71,138 | 79.0 | 27,924 | 31.0 | 48.0 | 3 | 30,018 | 3 |
Jackson | 28,128 | 21,776 | 77.4 | 6,967 | 24.8 | 52.6 | 1 | 28,128 | 1 |
Jefferson | 10,310 | 8,017 | 77.8 | 3,007 | 29.2 | 48.6 | 1 | 10,310 | 1 |
Lafayette | 4,469 | 3,412 | 76.4 | 1,041 | 23.3 | 53.1 | 1 | 4,469 | 1 |
Lake | 188,702 | 148,132 | 78.5 | 57,471 | 30.5 | 48.0 | 8 | 23,588 | 5 |
Lee | 320,512 | 269,672 | 84.1 | 64,446 | 20.1 | 64.0 | 6 | 53,419 | 9 |
Leon | 174,544 | 149,301 | 85.5 | 42,461 | 24.3 | 61.2 | 5 | 34,909 | 5 |
Levy | 25,924 | 18,883 | 72.8 | 4,250 | 16.4 | 56.4 | 1 | 25,924 | 1 |
Liberty | 4,304 | 3,336 | 77.5 | 1,028 | 23.9 | 53.6 | 1 | 4,304 | 1 |
Madison | 12,278 | 8,959 | 73.0 | 3,452 | 28.1 | 44.9 | 1 | 12,278 | 1 |
Manatee | 206,211 | 152,900 | 74.2 | 20,194 | 9.8 | 64.4 | 1 | 206,211 | 6 |
Marion | 214,722 | 163,297 | 76.1 | 47,647 | 22.2 | 53.9 | 6 | 35,787 | 6 |
Martin | 101,155 | 78,994 | 78.1 | 28,197 | 27.9 | 50.2 | 5 | 20,231 | 3 |
Miami Dade | 1,243,315 | 872,229 | 70.1 | 313,461 | 25.2 | 44.9 | 20 | 62,166 | 31 |
Monroe | 50,136 | 40,678 | 81.1 | 13,631 | 27.2 | 53.9 | 6 | 8,356 | 2 |
Nassau | 47,501 | 38,560 | 81.2 | 18,978 | 40.0 | 41.2 | 4 | 11,875 | 2 |
Okaloosa | 129,373 | 95,920 | 74.1 | 33,564 | 25.9 | 48.2 | 2 | 64,687 | 4 |
Okeechobee | 18,859 | 12,902 | 68.4 | 4,783 | 25.4 | 43.0 | 1 | 18,859 | 1 |
Orange | 604,243 | 465,758 | 77.1 | 145,276 | 24.0 | 53.1 | 10 | 60,424 | 16 |
Osceola | 136,544 | 99,428 | 72.8 | 41,312 | 30.3 | 42.5 | 5 | 27,309 | 4 |
Palm Beach | 831,423 | 594,204 | 71.5 | 144,912 | 17.4 | 54.1 | 14 | 59,387 | 21 |
Pasco | 294,431 | 217,009 | 73.7 | 68,818 | 23.4 | 50.3 | 7 | 42,062 | 7 |
Pinellas | 643,423 | 468,285 | 72.8 | 46,368 | 7.2 | 65.6 | 3 | 214,474 | 17 |
Polk | 332,015 | 246,463 | 74.2 | 60,071 | 18.1 | 56.1 | 6 | 55,336 | 9 |
Putnam | 46,432 | 33,362 | 71.9 | 9,960 | 21.5 | 50.4 | 1 | 46,432 | 2 |
Santa Rosa | 107,253 | 76,553 | 71.4 | 26,264 | 24.5 | 46.9 | 2 | 53,627 | 3 |
Sarasota | 260,618 | 208,623 | 80.1 | 70,703 | 27.1 | 53.0 | 8 | 32,577 | 6 |
Seminole | 259,336 | 206,886 | 79.8 | 77,798 | 30.0 | 49.8 | 5 | 51,867 | 6 |
St. Johns | 131,744 | 106,399 | 80.8 | 49,232 | 37.4 | 43.4 | 6 | 21,957 | 4 |
St. Lucie | 157,676 | 121,382 | 77.0 | 43,692 | 27.7 | 49.3 | 3 | 52,559 | 4 |
Sumter | 59,913 | 49,238 | 82.2 | 28,587 | 47.7 | 34.5 | 4 | 14,978 | 2 |
Suwannee | 24,791 | 16,600 | 67.7 | 5,246 | 21.2 | 45.8 | 2 | 12,396 | 1 |
Taylor | 13,088 | 9,449 | 72.2 | 2,835 | 21.7 | 50.5 | 1 | 13,088 | 1 |
Union | 7,273 | 5,352 | 73.6 | 1,389 | 19.1 | 54.5 | 2 | 3,637 | 1 |
Volusia | 326,854 | 245,812 | 75.2 | 56,319 | 17.2 | 58.0 | 6 | 54,476 | 9 |
Wakulla | 18,565 | 14,444 | 77.8 | 6,382 | 34.4 | 43.4 | 1 | 18,565 | 1 |
Walton | 36,847 | 27,231 | 73.9 | 9,647 | 26.2 | 47.7 | 2 | 18,424 | 1 |
Washington | 15,938 | 11,271 | 70.7 | 3,138 | 19.7 | 51.0 | 1 | 15,938 | 1 |
Total | 11,247,634 | 8,440,206 | 75.0 | 2,626,541 | 23.4 | 51.7 | 282 | 39,885 | 320 |
As we see in Florida, there was, on average, one early voting site for every 40,000 registered voters. The problem, however, was in the distribution of those sites. The two counties that jump out at you are Manatee and Pinellas counties. They had 1 voting site for every 206,211 and 214,474 registered voters respectively. Not surprisingly, if you look at their early voting turnout they were the worst and 3rd worst percentage wise - Pinellas at 7.2% and Manatee at 9.8%. Additionally, the largest counties seemed to have been the most underserved. Miami-Dade should have had at least another dozen locations, Broward and Palm Beach another 6 locations, Orange another 7 locations and Pinellas another 14 locations. On the other hand, another large county, Duval (Jacksonville), had more locations per registered voter than the average for the state. It had 16 sites when 14 would have been sufficient to attain the 40,000 registered voters per site.
2004 vs. 2008 Victory Margins by County
Counties | 2008 Margin | 2004 Margin | Change in Margin |
Alachua | 60-39 Obama | 56-43 Kerry | +8 |
Baker | 79-21 McCain | 78-22 Bush | -2 |
Bay | 70-29 McCain | 71-28 Bush | +2 |
Bradford | 70-29 McCain | 70-30 Bush | -1 |
Brevard | 55-44 McCain | 58-42 Bush | +5 |
Broward | 67-33 Obama | 64-35 Kerry | +5 |
Calhoun | 70-29 McCain | 63-26 Bush | -14 |
Charlotte | 53-46 McCain | 56-43 Bush | +6 |
Citrus | 58-41 McCain | 57-42 Bush | -2 |
Clay | 71-29 McCain | 76-23 Bush | +11 |
Collier | 61-39 McCain | 65-34 Bush | +9 |
Columbia | 66-33 McCain | 67-32 Bush | +2 |
DeSoto | 56-43 McCain | 58-41 Bush | +4 |
Dixie | 72-26 McCain | 69-30 Bush | -7 |
Duval | 51-49 McCain | 58-42 Bush | +14 |
Escambia | 59-40 McCain | 65-34 Bush | +12 |
Flagler | 51-49 Obama | 51-48 Bush | +5 |
Franklin | 63-36 McCain | 59-40 Bush | -8 |
Gadsden | 69-31 Obama | 70-30 Kerry | -2 |
Gilchrist | 73-26 McCain | 70-29 Bush | -6 |
Glades | 60-40 McCain | 58-41 Bush | -3 |
Gulf | 69-30 McCain | 66-33 Bush | -6 |
Hamilton | 57-42 McCain | 55-45 Bush | -5 |
Hardee | 64-35 McCain | 70-30 Bush | +11 |
Hendry | 53-46 McCain | 59-41 Bush | +11 |
Hernando | 56-43 McCain | 53-46 Bush | -6 |
Highlands | 59-40 McCain | 62-37 Bush | +6 |
Hillsborough | 51-49 Obama | 53-46 Bush | +9 |
Holmes | 82-17 McCain | 77-22 Bush | -10 |
Indian River | 57-42 McCain | 60-39 Bush | +6 |
Jackson | 64-36 McCain | 61-38 Bush | -5 |
Jefferson | 52-48 Obama | 54-44 Kerry | -7 |
Lafayette | 80-19 McCain | 74-26 Bush | -13 |
Lake | 57-43 McCain | 60-39 Bush | +7 |
Lee | 55-45 McCain | 60-39 Bush | +11 |
Leon | 62-38 Obama | 62-38 Kerry | 0 |
Levy | 63-36 McCain | 63-36 Bush | 0 |
Liberty | 72-27 McCain | 64-35 Bush | -16 |
Madison | 51-48 McCain | 50-49 Bush | -2 |
Manatee | 53-46 McCain | 57-43 Bush | +7 |
Marion | 55-44 McCain | 58-41 Bush | +6 |
Martin | 56-43 McCain | 57-42 Bush | +2 |
Miami-Dade | 58-42 Obama | 53-47 Kerry | +10 |
Monroe | 52-47 Obama | 50-49 Kerry | +4 |
Nassau | 72-28 McCain | 73-26 Bush | +3 |
Okaloosa | 72-27 McCain | 78-22 Bush | +11 |
Okeechobee | 59-40 McCain | 57-43 Bush | -5 |
Orange | 59-41 Obama | 50-50 Kerry | +18 |
Osceola | 60-40 Obama | 53-47 Bush | +26 |
Palm Beach | 62-38 Obama | 61-39 Kerry | +2 |
Pasco | 51-48 McCain | 54-45 Bush | +6 |
Pinellas | 54-45 Obama | 50-49 Bush | +10 |
Polk | 53-47 McCain | 59-41 Bush | +12 |
Putnam | 59-40 McCain | 59-40 Bush | 0 |
Santa Rosa | 74-26 McCain | 77-22 Bush | +7 |
Sarasota | 50-50 McCain | 54-45 Bush | +9 |
Seminole | 51-48 McCain | 58-42 Bush | +13 |
St. Johns | 66-34 McCain | 69-31 Bush | +6 |
St. Lucie | 56-44 Obama | 52-48 Kerry | +8 |
Sumter | 63-36 McCain | 62-37 Bush | -2 |
Suwannee | 71-28 McCain | 71-29 Bush | +1 |
Taylor | 69-30 McCain | 64-36 Bush | -11 |
Union | 74-25 McCain | 73-27 Bush | -3 |
Volusia | 53-47 Obama | 51-49 Kerry | +4 |
Wakulla | 62-37 McCain | 58-42 Bush | -9 |
Walton | 72-27 McCain | 73-26 Bush | +2 |
Washington | 74-26 McCain | 71-28 Bush | -5 |
You'll notice that any county with over 200,000 registered voters gave Obama some of his biggest gains and in none of those counties did McCain improve on Bush's margins. The larger counties, while underserved during early voting, made up for it during the election day voting. All of them had over 70% turnout overall, even Pinellas which had 7% early voter turnout had over 65% turnout on election day. Conversely, McCain's largest margin increases were in the smaller Florida counties, usually under 15,000 registered voters countywide.
GEORGIA
Counties | Registered Voters | Turnout | Turnout % | Number of Early Voting Sites | Registered Voters Per Site | Preferred Number of Early Voting Sites |
Bartow | 50,898 | 36,048 | 70.8 | 2 | 25,449 | 2 |
Bibb | 86,225 | 66,115 | 76.7 | 1 | 86,225 | 3 |
Carroll | 58,068 | 43,424 | 74.8 | 1 | 58,068 | 2 |
Chatham | 140,307 | 110,150 | 78.5 | 2 | 70,154 | 4 |
Cherokee | 119,405 | 93,655 | 78.4 | 1 | 119,405 | 3 |
Clarke | 59,560 | 45,314 | 76.1 | 1 | 59,560 | 2 |
Clayton | 135,237 | 99,386 | 73.5 | 6 | 22,540 | 4 |
Cobb | 397,334 | 315,139 | 79.3 | 5 | 79,467 | 10 |
Columbia | 72,442 | 55,323 | 76.4 | 1 | 72,442 | 2 |
Coweta | 70,871 | 53,502 | 75.5 | 1 | 70,871 | 2 |
Dekalb | 415,252 | 322,070 | 77.6 | 1 | 415,252 | 11 |
Dougherty | 52,641 | 38,832 | 76.7 | 1 | 86,225 | 3 |
Douglas | 70,587 | 55,056 | 78.0 | 1 | 70,587 | 2 |
Fayette | 71,721 | 59,284 | 82.7 | 3 | 27,240 | 2 |
Forsyth | 93,386 | 75,277 | 80.6 | 5 | 18,677 | 3 |
Fulton | 554,682 | 404,634 | 73.0 | 3 | 184,894 | 14 |
Gwinnett | 383,445 | 290,116 | 75.7 | 1 | 383,445 | 10 |
Hall | 79,431 | 59,923 | 75.4 | 1 | 79,431 | 2 |
Henry | 113,216 | 88,222 | 77.9 | 5 | 22,643 | 3 |
Houston | 72,054 | 55,872 | 77.5 | 2 | 36,027 | 2 |
Lowndes | 50,367 | 38,757 | 77.0 | 1 | 50,367 | 2 |
Muscogee | 103,750 | 74,011 | 71.3 | 2 | 51,875 | 3 |
Newton | 54,609 | 41,401 | 75.8 | 1 | 54,609 | 2 |
Paulding | 72,589 | 56,957 | 78.5 | 1 | 72,589 | 2 |
Richmond | 107,062 | 79,271 | 74.0 | 3 | 35,687 | 3 |
Georgia was the same. Above is a list of Georgia counties with over 50,000 registered voters. There are over 150 counties in Georgia so it's not worth listing everyone. Again, the problem was in the distribution of voting sites. The vast majority of Georgia counties had only one early voting site, some of which had over 100,000 registered voters. For instance, DeKalb County had one early voting site for over 415,000 registered voters, when at least 11 would have been necessary to service all those registered voters. Fulton County (Atlanta) had 3 early voting sites for over 550,000 registered voters, at least 14 would have been sufficient. The only fairly large county which had a sufficient number of early voting sites was Clayton County which had 6 sites for over 135,000 registered voters. If each county had 1 early voting site for every 40,000 registered voters, then at least 45 additional sites should have been open in Georgia. It's not surprising that the most underserved counties were the ones with larger cities (Democratic base votes).
It also shouldn't be surprising that both Florida and Georgia have Republican Secretaries of State, the elected officials in charge of elections statewide. While Obama ended up winning in Florida and Georgia was close, perhaps because of early voting there, the early voting system in these states were definitely skewed to at the very least discourage early voting if not at worst specifically suppress Democratic turnout.
Now, if we look at another southern state that had early voting, but had a Democratic Secretary of State, we can look no further than North Carolina. Below is the table for early voting information on North Carolina. Again, I've limited the table to those counties with over 50,000 registered voters.
NORTH CAROLINA
Counties | Registered Voters | Turnout | Turnout % | Number of Early Voting Sites | Registered Voters Per Site | Preferred Number of Early Voting Sites | % Early Vote of Registered Voters |
Alamance | 90,203 | 65,158 | 72.2 | 3 | 30,068 | 3 | 40.6 |
Brunswick | 75,778 | 53,544 | 70.7 | 8 | 9,472 | 2 | 49.1 |
Buncombe | 174,685 | 124,791 | 71.4 | 15 | 11,646 | 5 | 50.7 |
Burke | 56,794 | 38,328 | 67.5 | 7 | 8,113 | 2 | 40.6 |
Cabarrus | 109,529 | 78,667 | 71.8 | 3 | 36,510 | 3 | 31.3 |
Caldwell | 53,661 | 35,671 | 66.5 | 2 | 26,831 | 2 | 0 |
Catawba | 104,526 | 70,544 | 67.5 | 4 | 26,132 | 3 | 43.8 |
Cleveland | 61,521 | 44,117 | 71.7 | 4 | 15,380 | 2 | 39.7 |
Craven | 68,190 | 45,181 | 66.3 | 5 | 13,638 | 2 | 42.3 |
Cumberland | 210,581 | 128,878 | 61.2 | 8 | 26,323 | 6 | 34.4 |
Davidson | 101,341 | 69,852 | 68.9 | 5 | 20,268 | 3 | 34.8 |
Durham | 178,500 | 137,358 | 77.0 | 7 | 25,500 | 5 | 57.5 |
Forsyth | 222,081 | 167,870 | 75.6 | 14 | 15,863 | 6 | 42.0 |
Gaston | 127,448 | 85,184 | 66.8 | 4 | 31,862 | 4 | 40.7 |
Guilford | 355,073 | 243,764 | 68.7 | 19 | 18,688 | 9 | 45.3 |
Harnett | 62,837 | 41,018 | 65.3 | 3 | 20,946 | 2 | 32.9 |
Henderson | 77,050 | 52,381 | 68.0 | 4 | 19,263 | 2 | 42.7 |
Iredell | 101,587 | 73,696 | 72.5 | 4 | 25,397 | 3 | 42.1 |
Johnston | 101,228 | 72,318 | 71.4 | 3 | 33,743 | 3 | 37.1 |
Mecklenburg | 627,498 | 415,268 | 66.2 | 20 | 31,375 | 16 | 36.3 |
Moore | 60,150 | 45,662 | 75.9 | 3 | 20,050 | 2 | 48.7 |
Nash | 64,745 | 47,476 | 73.3 | 3 | 21,582 | 2 | 48.5 |
New Hanover | 144,696 | 101,398 | 70.1 | 6 | 24,116 | 4 | 40.9 |
Onslow | 86,482 | 50,544 | 58.4 | 4 | 21,621 | 3 | 36.9 |
Orange | 105,540 | 75,194 | 71.3 | 5 | 21,108 | 3 | 52.5 |
Pitt | 105,841 | 75,392 | 71.2 | 7 | 15,120 | 3 | 49.2 |
Randolph | 85,708 | 58,670 | 68.5 | 4 | 21,427 | 3 | 0 |
Robeson | 68,680 | 41,397 | 60.3 | 3 | 22,893 | 2 | 22.2 |
Rockingham | 59,950 | 41,952 | 70.0 | 6 | 9,992 | 2 | 40.0 |
Rowan | 90,288 | 61,948 | 68.6 | 5 | 18,058 | 3 | 40.4 |
Union | 120,514 | 86,949 | 72.1 | 5 | 24,103 | 4 | 47.3 |
Wake | 593,081 | 444,013 | 74.9 | 15 | 39,539 | 15 | 46.0 |
Wayne | 69,529 | 50,284 | 72.3 | 5 | 13,096 | 2 | 51.1 |
Wilson | 53,102 | 37,661 | 70.9 | 2 | 26,551 | 2 | 46.4 |
As you can see, not a single county in North Carolina had more than 40,000 registered voters per voting site. The closest to 40,000 per voting site was Wake County at about 39,500 even though it had 15 early voting sites countywide. Even with the highest ratio statewide of registered voters per voting site, Wake County still had 46% of registered voters vote early, almost 6% above the statewide average. Additionally, some of the highest early voting turnout percentages were in counties with the lowest ratio of registered voters to voting sites and that had multiple voting sites. This was true whether the county had a large population or not. Buncombe County, for example, had 50.9% early voting turnout and a ratio of just over 11,000 voters per site in a county with almost 175,000 registered voters.
In fact, 56% of all those that voted were early voters and nearly 40% of all registered voters voted early in North Carolina. It's no coincidence that some of the highest percentages of early voting both in urban and rural areas was in a state with a Democratic Secretary of State. Just one more reason to elect good Democrats at all levels of government.