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More North Carolina voters registered as unaffiliated than Democrat or Republican

The number of unaffiliated voters has doubled in the past 20 years.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Election Day is next Tuesday, and Saturday is the last day of early voting in both North and South Carolina. So far, more than 2 million people in both states have already voted.

Meanwhile, candidates are making their final push before the remaining voters head to the polls.

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Over the years, the political landscape in North Carolina has shifted, there are more unaffiliated voters in the state than ever before. As North Carolina becomes more of a purple state, fewer people are publicly designating what party they support.

“People are frustrated with the party system, they don’t really want to feel like they have to publicly choose one or the other,” Steven Greene, a professor of political science at NC State University said.

North Carolina has a four-party system, including the libertarian and green parties. 

State data shows of the 7,416,928 registered voters, 33.73% are registered Democratic, 30% Republican and 35.59% are unaffiliated.

And the number of unaffiliated voters is growing. Data that is easily accessible online shows that 20 years ago, in the 2002 midterm election, 16% of registered voters in North Carolina were unaffiliated.

“I think its nonetheless important to recognize that the vast majority of those unaffiliated voters have pretty strong party inclinations," Greene said. "And whether someone is registered as unaffiliated probably doesn’t tell you very much about how they’re going to vote."

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That means most unaffiliated voters are not necessarily swing voters or moderates that can be won over by candidates.

Heading into Election Day, all eyes will be on the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina.

Both Cheri Beasley and Ted Budd are making their final rounds across the state, but analysts say there’s a good reason they’re mainly focused on energizing their base.

“The North Carolina Senate election exists in a larger United States political context which is shaping so much of it,” he said. “That context is things like inflation and people worried about the economy and things like the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. We clearly see that reflected in the race that we have here.”

The last day to vote early is Saturday. Polls in North Carolina will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In South Carolina from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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