NEWS

Early voting breaks records in Asheville, Buncombe

Joel Burgess
jburgess@citizen-times.com

Asheville and other Buncombe County residents have broken records for early voting, said election officials who reported lines snaking out doors Saturday, the last day to cast ballots early before regular voting happens for the Tuesday primary.

A total of 31,653 county residents voted during the eight-and-a-half day early voting period that ended Saturday, according to records from the Buncombe County Election Services, obtained by the Citizen-Times Monday. People voting in Democratic primary races outnumbered those voting in the Republican races, more than two-to-one.

The early voting numbers represent a 42 percent increase over the 2012 primary and a 58 percent jump from the 2008 primary, a race which featured high voter excitement during the contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who went on to win the White House that year, becoming the first African-American president.

The high numbers came despite a shorter early voting period for this year and a new voter ID law opponents said would suppress participation among low-income residents and minorities.

Election Services Director Trena Parker said the early voting sites had lines of people still waiting at the scheduled 1 p.m. closing time Saturday.

"A lot of time, changes in the law will have the opposite effect than some might think," Parker said. "It will make people more interested in what is going on. People are more aware of the process."

Parker said she thought the increased primary turnout would mean to higher turnout overall.

This year's primary features party races from president on down to county commissioner as well as a $2 billion state bond referendum.

Another record-breaking aspect was the percentage of registered voters participating. In this early-voting period, 17 percent of registered voters participated. In 2012 and 2008, it was 12 percent.

Residents had the ability to vote early at any 11 official locations. Unregistered residents could register and vote the same day. Only voters already registered can vote primary day Tuesday.

The busiest site was the West Asheville Library, which saw 4,122 voters, followed by the North Asheville library with 4,069.

A total of 22,470 ballots were cast in the Democratic primary, while 9,058 were cast in the Republican races. North Carolina has semi-open primaries, meaning people must vote in the primary of the party for which they're registered. But unaffiliated voters can choose either Democratic or Republican ballots.

A total of 17,527 women voted early, compared to 13,557 men. The number of minority voters was small, at 3 percent or 933 African-Americans participating in the early process.

Friday, in anticipation of big numbers, party leaders assigned different reasons for the high interest, with Buncombe County Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Sinclair saying her party's level of organization, good candidates and issues including "education, affordable housing and local control," were responsible.

County Republican Chairman Nathan West said the numbers showed that critics of the voter ID law were wrong about voter suppression and that more Democratic and GOP voters were participating out of frustration and a feeling that "America is going in the wrong direction."

Congressional primaries not a part of Tuesday voting

Free buses planned for primary election day in Asheville

Candidate filing for mayor, City Council and municipal elections is happening at Buncombe County Election Services in Asheville.

Early primary voting

  • 2016  (March 15 primary) - 31,653 voted early, 17.1 percent of registered voters, 3,724 per day (8.5 days)
  • 2012 (May 8 primary) - 22,260 voted early, 12.4 percent of registered voters, 1,535 per day (14.5 days)
  • 2008 (May 6 primary) - 20,009 voted early, 12.2 percent of registered voters, 1,380 per day (14.5 days)