UPDATE: The State Board of Elections revised up the Thursday number from 99,000 to 112,000, so I've revised this earlier post that said 99,000.
Early voting opened in North Carolina Thursday, and 112,901 voters cast ballots at the 299 sites open. This compares with 30,030 who voted the first day of early voting in 2004.
For 2008, here is a breakdown by race:
Black 35.9%
White 60.5%
Asian 0.5%
Native American 0.3%
Other* 2.6%
* includes blank field, undesignated, other, and two races
By party, the two election cycles for day one of early voting were markedly different:
2008
Unaffiliated 15.50%
Republican 20.26%
Libertarian 0.05%
Democratic 64.41%
2004
Unaffiliated 12.23%
Republican 38.35%
Libertarian 0.15%
Democratic 49.21%
North Carolina allows early voting through Saturday, November 1. While 299 sites were open yesterday, the total will grow to about 380 by late next week, as some counties open some sites only near the end of the 19-day period. New voters can also register at the sites, but I do not have any registration information yet
No racial breakdown is available for 2004 on the State Board of Elections files.
Some totals for counties for Day One:
Mecklenburg (Charlotte) 10,898 http://www.meckboe.org/...
Durham (Durham) 6,264
http://www.durhamcountync.gov/...
files used for data analysis
ftp://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/enrs/absentee11xx04xx2008.zip (updated daily)
ftp://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/enrs/absentee11xx02xx2004.zip (archive)