Hi everyone. So, early voting just started here today in my western North Carolina county (we must be the last one) and of course I headed out to be there promptly by 11:00am when the polls open. I was pretty surprised by the huge turnout!
When I got there (at the local library) the parking lot was completely full and there were cars edging around trying to find a place to park on the curb. I decided to go for a spin around the block and come back prepared to jockey for an opening, and by the time I made it back (I ended up stopping at the store for some smokes) they'd opened up another lot next door for overflow, and that had mostly filled up too.
Anyhow, the line stretched out of the building all the way down the walk to the parking lot .. and despite a downpour, too! So, there was this one lady there passing out fliers with step-by-step voting instructions and a list of the Democratic Party candidates. There wasn't anyone from the Republicans or anyone else. She was off to the side with a yellow sign saying something like 'Democratic Voters Check In Here' iirc.
Anyhow, I would say at least half the people I saw walking up were stopping by to chat and picking up her flyer, and many people in line had one. This is actually great since my area in South Buncombe voted almost 2-1 Republican in 2002 (that's not just my guesstimate .. I went and looked at the county board of elections website). Of course this is all anecdotal, but the buzz I heard from the crowd definitely seemed to have a Dem lean.
There were several comments to the effect of how surprising the turnout was, especially since early voting is relatively new in North Carolina. Once I got inside I happened to hear the poll workers mention it too, and how they weren't expecting near that many. It took me an hour to finally make it into the little booth and cast my (unfortunately) electronic ballot.
So, hopefully this is a great sign of things to come. A huge early voting turnout that seemed to lean Democratic in an area that tends to lean Republican. I should mention that this was Patsy Keever's old school district so that might be part of why. Our state house race is supposed to be tight this year, and I'll be thrilled if I never have to see that crusty fundie we've got now on TV ever again!