Early voting has begun for North Carolina’s primary elections. Voters will choose party nominees for the state’s open seat in the U.S. Senate, all 14 congressional races and every seat in the General Assembly. There are also primary races for hundreds of local offices across the state.
One-stop early voting runs from April 28 until 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. Registered voters can cast their ballots at any early voting site in their county. People can also register to vote and cast their ballot on the same day at early voting sites.
To register to vote during early voting, people will need to bring proof of address like a driver's license, a recent utility bill or a bank statement. Identification is not required to vote early or on election day.
Election day is May 17. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is May 10. Mail-in votes must be received by county boards of elections by 5 p.m. on the Friday after election day. Absentee ballots delivered by hand to North Carolina’s election to pick a Republican Senate nominee has attracted national attention and millions in outside funding.
Polling shows former Congressman Ted Budd is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, with former Gov. Pat McCrory coming in second.
The campaigns of former Rep. Mark Walker and combat veteran Marjorie Eastman have also attracted attention in the primary race.
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley is the presumed Democratic nominee for Senate.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Budd for the nomination early in the race and he hosted a rally recently featuring Budd, Rep. Madison Cawthorn and District 13 congressional candidate Bo Hines.
The Senate primary and Republican congressional races turned into a race between America First candidates like Budd and Cawthorn, and more establishment GOP candidates like McCrory and North Carolina Sen. Chuck Edwards, who is running against Cawthorn.
The candidates have to get more than 50% of the vote in the federal elections to avoid a runoff on July 26.
All 100 counties in North Carolina have early voting sites for the primaries.
Find early voting sites by county at the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.