CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Early voting begins in North Carolina on Thursday, October 20. But already, experts are seeing trends emerge from absentee-by-mail voting.
"Women are making up substantial majorities of these early ballots," Michael Bitzer, professor of politics at Catawba College, said.
"There appears to be a sustained and energized momentum, particularly among women voters," Bitzer continued.
As of October 9, 55% of requested absentee ballots were from women and 38% were from men. Overall, absentee voting is outpacing the 2018 midterms, but behind the 2020 general election, which happened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"Ever since the pandemic, we kind of trying to figure out exactly how people are going to vote. What's going to be their new course," Michael Dickerson, Director of Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, said.
Still, experts cautioned against reading too much into ballot data this early. Early numbers don't always reflect the final outcomes.
"If we looked at only the mail-in votes in 2020, Joe Biden would have won North Carolina 70% to 30%. That didn't happen. Donald Trump ended up winning North Carolina," Bitzer said.
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