Voters eager to cast their ballots lined up at some polling places Thursday morning before dawn. Wake County elections director Olivia McCall expects the day to set a new record for first-day turnout.

North Carolina's early voting period began at 8 a.m. Oct. 17 and runs through 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. Voters can cast ballots at any early voting site in the county where they’re registered to vote.

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    Carly Mason and John Vassil were two of several voters who talked to WRAL News on Thursday morning. They said they don't usually vote on the first day, but felt like the 2024 election was so important that they were motivated.

    "I think if you really want your voice to be heard," Mason said.

    Vassil added, "Your vote really matters more than anything else. It doesn't matter who you want to vote for, but you have to vote. You have to vote your beliefs."

    State election director Karen Brinson Bell said turnout for the first day of voting was tremendous statewide, even in storm-ravaged western North Carolina. Voters lined up in 30-degree weather in Haywood County, a sign, Brinson Bell said, that people trust the process – despite a lot of misinformation.

    "These are critical elections in our state," she said. "We are a battleground state, and there's a lot of attention to us because of the presidential contest, but we will have a new governor, a new lieutenant governor, a new attorney general. We'll have many members newly elected to our legislature."

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    People who aren't registered to vote, or who need to update their address, name or other information, can also register in person during early voting using a driver’s license or other acceptable proof of ID.

    Voters in western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene should check with their county boards of election on the status of local polling places, for early voting as well as on election day.

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    Political leaders among crowds who cast votes early

    State GOP Chairman Jason Simmons was at the early voting site in Holly Springs first thing this morning. "The lines were out the door already at 7:30," he said. "Enthusiasm is high to make sure we get out our vote, and we're encouraging everybody to do that."

    Across town, at the southeast Raleigh YMCA, gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein joined other Democratic candidates to encourage voter turnout. "I think there's going to be great turnout. I think the interest in this election is incredibly high because the stakes are so high," he said.

    Gary Smith told WRAL News he doesn't usually vote on the first day, but 2024 is different.

    "This is an important election, and I wanted to make sure it happened," he said. "I'll be encouraging other people to vote during the rest of the early voting time."

    Wake County has a record 22 sites for early voting, and the only problems reported Thursday were some jams in the parking lots because so many people turned out.

    Wake and other counties publish wait times online to help voters choose the most convenient place to vote.

    "If you just check that out and see what the wait times are at the 22 sites, you could maybe go to a site that has a 5-minute wait versus a two- hour wait," McCall said. "That’s a huge benefit for our voters to be able to find something that’s convenient."

    Specific early voting days and times vary according to county.

    In 2016, through 17 days of early voting, 2.9 million ballots were cast. In 2020, that number jumped to 3.6 million. The North Carolina State Board of Elections has more than 7.7 million voters on the rolls. Almost 3 million of them are unaffiliated. Statewide, 2.4 million people are registered as Democrats; 2.3 million are registered as Republicans.