(NewsNation) — A record number of people voted early in North Carolina this week, even amid challenges from Hurricane Helene, which swept through the state last month.
Helene was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm killed at least 246 people, a little over half of them reported in North Carolina.
As of Saturday morning, 90% of the state’s early voting sites were up and running. In total, that’s 419 polling stations across North Carolina.
According to preliminary data, more than 353,000 people cast ballots at more than 400 early voting sites statewide on Thursday. That’s close to the number of ballots cast on the first day of early voting in October 2020, the State Board of Elections said, at the time totaling more than 348,500.
This is happening as a sizable part of the state continues to recover from Hurricane Helene — and thousands of people remain without power or running water in the western part of the state. Cleanup efforts will continue for the foreseeable future, but officials still expect a majority of voters to cast their ballots in person over the next two weeks.
Thursday’s turnout “is a clear sign that voters are energized about this election, that they trust the elections process, and that a hurricane will not stop North Carolinians from exercising their right to vote,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, in a news release.
“The conditions improve each and every day, and so they are accounting for that, but also working on the assumption of, if they do not, if the status that we have today is the status on Nov. 5, how will they deliver?” Brinson Bell said.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat running for governor, says the first priority is getting people’s lives back on track.
North Carolina voters aren’t just casting their ballots in person. So far, more than 75,000 absentee ballots out of nearly 373,000 requested have already been returned.
To accommodate people after Helene, North Carolina State officials are making exceptions this year for residents who may have lost their identification during the storm.
Early voting for North Carolina runs through Nov. 2 in all counties. In addition to president and governor, races for attorney general and several other statewide positions are on North Carolina ballots. All U.S. House and General Assembly seats are up for election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.