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Friday, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) announced its plans to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states for the Nov. 5 general election.

Three of those jurisdictions are in North Carolina. According to information from the DOJ, they will be monitoring elections in Wake County, Alamance County and Mecklenburg County.

The Justice Department says it regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country.

Nearly 4.5 million people in the Tar Heel state voted early. That's 57% of the state's 7.8 million registered voters.

The exact number is 4,465,548. This beats North Carolina's previous record for early voting, set in 2020 when 3.6 million people cast their vote early.

Voters in 25 western NC counties affected by Hurricane Helene outpaced the rest of the state in voter turnout. According to the state board of elections, turnout in those counties was nearly 59%, about 2% higher than the statewide turnout.

Although early voting ended in North Carolina, it is still ongoing in some states.

Election Day is on Tuesday. See our voter guide here.

Nationwide numbers

As of Sunday at 6 a.m.,over 75 million Americans have cast their ballots, including in-person early votes and mail ballots returned.

So far, nationwide, the number of in-person early votes has exceeded the total from 2020. However, the overall number of early votes, including mail-in and absentee ballots, is lower than it was in 2020.

Here's a breakdown of the numbers:

2024

• Total early votes: 75,093,872

• In-Person early votes: 40,719,518

• Mail ballots returned: 34,374,356

2020

• Total early votes: 101,453,111

• In-person votes: 35,811,062

• Mail ballots returned: 65,642,049

North Carolina State Board of Elections said officials across the state work to ensure the safety and security of all voters and the election process.

Several processes are in place to secure the state's elections, including voting equipment testing and the investigations division.

Read more.