North Carolina Voter Registration Ends: How Democrats, Republicans Compare

Democrats narrowly outnumber Republicans among registered voters in North Carolina, where polls continue to show a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
North Carolina is among the closely divided battleground states that could determine the outcome of the presidential race. Early voting began last week, with more than 1.7 million residents casting their ballots by Wednesday afternoon, according to data from the state’s Board of Elections.
There were 2,424,069 million registered Democrats and 2,309,357 registered Republicans in the state as of October 12, one day after the voter registration deadline.
But unaffiliated voters make up the largest voting group in North Carolina, as 2,925,342 people do not identify with any party. Winning over these independent voters will be crucial to either candidate’s victory in the state.
Newsweek reached out to the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment via email on Wednesday.
The Democrats’ advantage was strongest in Mecklenburg, Wake and Durham counties, home to Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham, while suburban counties like Union, Johnston and Iredell saw the largest numbers of registered Republicans.
Democrats have long enjoyed a voter registration advantage in North Carolina, but that hasn’t always translated to carrying the state in presidential races.
In a November 7, 2020, report, Democrats held an even larger edge, with 2,644,050 voters identifying as Democrats, compared to 2,233,007 as Republicans. At the time, 2,452,783 voters were unaffiliated. Trump won North Carolina by 1.3 points that year.
Polls point to a similarly close race for the state on November 5. On Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate showed Trump with a 0.8 point lead over Harris. On September 23, Trump held a 0.5 point edge. Harris has a 1.8 lead over Trump nationally, according to the polling aggregate.
Voters in North Carolina are also deciding on their next governor in the race between Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
Robinson, the subject of a CNN report uncovering a series of disturbing posts he allegedly made to a porn website more than a decade ago, trails Stein in the race.
The state has backed the Republican candidate for president in every election since 1976, except for 2008 when former President Barack Obama won. But North Carolina has elected a Democratic governor in seven of the last eight gubernatorial contests.
North Carolina is the only Trump-won state considered a 2024 battleground.
Parts of western North Carolina, including Asheville, were battered by Hurricane Helene late last month, sparking concerns of running an election so soon after the devastating storm. But election officials have focused on ensuring communities in the region can vote, opening 76 of the 80 voting sites for early ballot casting in the Helene disaster area’s 25 counties.