With no competitive Democratic primary for president, the number of people who voted early in heavily Democratic Mecklenburg County dropped by 25% compared to the 2020 primary.
The number of Republicans voting early — while still much smaller — increased significantly, however.
Early voting ended Saturday. Polls open Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. and will be open until 7:30 p.m.
Four years ago, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg competed in the Democratic primary. More than 71,000 people voted early in Mecklenburg.
This year, Biden is the incumbent, and there’s no other Democratic presidential candidate on the ballot. Only 53,406 people voted early.
The action this year is on the Republican side, with Nikki Haley still trying to unseat former President Trump. There is also a more hard-fought Republican primary for governor, with State Treasurer Dale Folwell and Salisbury attorney Bill Graham trying to stop Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
This year, nearly 20,600 Republicans voted early compared to 12,841 in 2020.
While Mecklenburg’s drop in early voters is not surprising because it’s so heavily Democratic, turnout has so far lagged other large urban counties that are also blue.
So far, 6.9% of eligible Mecklenburg voters have cast ballots.
That’s below Wake (8.1%); Guilford (9.6%); Durham (12.6%); Buncombe (13%); Forsyth (10.3%) and Union (8.8%).
The Mecklenburg state House seat that has had the most early voters is District 105, which covers Mint Hill, Matthews and parts of South Charlotte, according to the John Locke Foundation’s vote tracker.
District 105 is one of the more Republican-leaning districts in the county.
It’s also where three Democrats — Terry Lansdell, Yolanda Holmes and Nicole Sidman — are running in the Democratic primary. The winner will face Republican incumbent Tricia Cotham in November. Cotham switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party a little more than a year ago.
