Battleground North Carolina: Election Day timeline, dates

NORTH CAROLINA (WLOS) – Election officials in counties across the state are preparing to open polls at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 5th

With 16 electoral votes, North Carolina is expected to be one of the first of the seven battleground states to report election results.

Polls in North Carolina close at 7:30 p.m. ET. In battleground states like Michigan, polls close at 8:00 p.m. ET.

In Nevada, another battleground state, polls close at 10 p.m. ET.

Estimated timeline for return from North Carolina:

• 7:30 p.m. – Polls close
• 7:30 p.m. – Postal letter counts published
• 7:30 p.m. to around 9:30 p.m. – Publication of the early voting results
• 8:30 p.m. to midnight – Election Day voting results will be released in real time on North Carolina State Board of Elections website

On Monday, Nov. 4, voters who voted early spoke to News 13 about who they voted for.

Early voter turnout exceeds four million, more than half of the state's registered voters

“I absolutely voted for Trump,” said Felix Villarreal, who lives in Cashiers. “We are on the wrong path.”

“I’m registered Republican,” said Skip Wyett, who lives in West Asheville. “But I just can’t imagine him (Trump) getting back in there.”

Wyett said he has been a Republican his entire life. However, he said that the fact that he has two sisters and a daughter influenced his views on abortion rights for women. It also affected his decision to vote for Harris and the Democrats.

“I have a daughter,” Wyett said. “I will not let the government dictate how she can control her body.”

UNC Charlotte political scientist Eric Heberlig says Republicans have overtaken Democrats with early voting.

“We have seen Republicans increase their share of early voting compared to previous elections,” Heberlig said.

However, he said he wasn't sure those numbers would mean fewer Republicans would vote on Election Day.

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVES RECORD EARLY VOTING, DESPITE HELENE'S DAMAGE AND ADJUSTMENTS

The question also remains whether Republicans like Skip Wyett will cross party lines and vote against the former president.

Trump, meanwhile, has been encouraging his supporters to vote early for months, which they have done.

There are approximately 7.8 million eligible voters in North Carolina.

Key data points ahead of Election Day in North Carolina:

• 2024 – 4.2 million voted early
• 2020 – 3.6 million voted early
• 2020 – 75% of all registered voters voted
• 2020 – Trump received 2,758,775 votes while Biden received 2,684,292 votes.

2024 Early Voting Data:

• 56% of registered voters voted early
• 63% are registered Republicans
• 58% are registered Democrats
• 50% are independently registered
• 59% are female
• 55% are male