North Carolinians, who early-voted in record numbers in 2008, have started at an even faster clip in 2012.
On Thursday, the first day of early voting, 150,664 N.C. voters went to the polls. That’s 28 percent more than cast ballots on the first day of early voting in 2008.
That year, six of 10 voters ended up voting before Election Day.
The first day saw 86,031 Democrats and 38,428 Republicans vote early across the state. Though that was an increase for both parties over the first day of early voting in 2008, Republicans made up a bigger slice of early voters than they did four years ago.
Democrats won the early vote decisively in 2008. Barack Obama went into Election Day with a 300,000 vote cushion on his way to carrying the state by a slim 14,000 votes.
