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Tracking Election Day across the country
Election Day 2024 arrived on Tuesday – and tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Political analyst Rich Rubino joined FOX’s LiveNOW to discuss the latest news from the final day of the race for the White House.
WASHINGTON – If Election Day finally arrives in the US, millions of people have already cast their ballots – including a record number of early voters Georgia, North Carolina and others states on the battlefield that could help determine the winner.
On Monday, The Associated Press’ tracking of advance voting nationwide showed that roughly 82 million ballots had already been cast. Data from the University of Florida Election Lab showed a similar number of early votes.
In the 2020 presidential election, approximately 101.4 million votes were cast early during the pandemic. This was evident from election laboratory data. That year, many states took emergency action to temporarily expand mail-in voting options to protect voters from the spread of COVID-19.
FILE – Early voting at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Building in Norwalk, California, on November 4, 2024. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Early voter turnout in Georgia, North Carolina
In Georgia, which alternated between the Republican and Democratic candidates in the previous two presidential elections, more than four million voters cast their ballots at the beginning of this year. That’s about 55% of their active voting population, according to Georgia’s Election Data Hub.
The turnout was so large that a top official in the secretary of state’s office said the big day could look like a “ghost town” at the polls.
Despite long lines in some places and a few hiccups common to all elections, in-person and mail-in voting went off without major problems, according to the Associated Press.
That included the parts of western North Carolina that were hit by Hurricane Helene. State and local election officials, taking advantage of changes implemented by the Republican-controlled Legislature, went to great lengths to ensure residents could cast their ballots while dealing with power outages, lack of water and washed-out roads.
By the time early voting ended in North Carolina on Saturday, more than 4.4 million voters — or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state — had cast ballots, according to the ASsociated Press, citing the state’s Board of Elections . As of Monday, turnout in the 25 western counties affected by the hurricane was even higher: 59% of registered voters, said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state Election Commission.
Brinson Bell called voters and election workers in counties hit by the hurricane “an inspiration to all of us.”
Early voters by political party
Republican voters cast ballots more quickly in 2024 than in recent past elections, following a campaign by the former president Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee to counter Democrats’ long-standing advantage in early voting.
According to the University of Florida Election Lab, about 15.4 million Democrats (37.8%) voted early this year, compared to about 14.7 million Republicans (35.8%) and 10.8 million unregistered voters (26.4%).
That data includes just 26 states with party registration, the Election Lab noted.
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Early voters by age
According to the University of Florida Election Lab, only nine states share voting age data, but that includes the swing states of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Of the states that do, the highest percentage of early voters (39.4%) were between the ages of 41 and 65.
About 34.5% of early voters were over 65 years old, 17.5% of early voters were between 26 and 40 years old, and 8.6% of them belonged to the youngest age group: 18-25 years old.
Early voters by gender
Reporting states with gender data include Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.
About 54% of early voters identify as female, 43.8% as male, and another 2.2% of early voters were listed as “unknown,” according to Election Lab data.
Early voters by race and ethnicity
According to the University of Florida Election Lab, the reporting U.S. states with race and Hispanic ethnicity data are Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The highest turnout (65.2%) of early voters were reported as non-Hispanic white, 22.2% were non-Hispanic black, 2.7% were Hispanic, 1.9% were Asian American, 0.5 % were Native American and another 8.5% were listed as “Other/Multiple/Unknown,” according to Election Lab data.
What time does the voting open?
For those who have chosen to wait until Election Day to cast their ballot, polling stations vary by state – some open as early as 6am local time and others as late as 8am.
Voters should check their state and county websites before heading out.
These are the opening hours for the swing states:
- 6:30 AM ET – North Carolina
- 7am ET – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania
- 8am ET – Arizona, Wisconsin
- 10am ET – Nevada
When do the polling stations close?
The closing time for polling stations also varies by state. Check your state and county website before voting.
Here are the cutoff times for the swing states:
- 7:00 PM ET – Georgia
- 7:30 PM ET – North Carolina
- 8:00 PM ET – Michigan, Pennsylvania
- 9:00 PM ET – Wisconsin, Arizona
- 10:00 PM ET – Nevada