Democrats lead, unaffiliated voters gain in early-vote turnout
RALEIGH -- More voters unaffiliated with a political party have cast ballots so far this year than at the same point four years ago.
Unaffiliated voters cast 24 percent of votes through Tuesday, including mail-in ballots and the first six days of in-person, one-stop voting. That is lower than the 30 percent of registered voters who are unaffiliated but more than the 18 percent of votes through the same period in 2012.
In 2012, “unaffiliated, if they were going to show up, they waited until Election Day,” said Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College.
“Something is happening - I’m not sure we know what it is. This could be a fundamental reshaping of how early votes and Election Day votes go this year,” he said.
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