Both Harris and Trump make final push for NC voters | Live Blog

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

Trump made his case once again to North Carolina voters during rallies in both Gastonia and Greensboro on Saturday.

The former president touched on many familiar topics ranging from the economy and inflation to illegal immigration and the border.

Trump took the stage in Greensboro two hours later than he was expected to after his stops earlier in the day in Gastonia and Salem, Virginia.

The delay did little to quiet the energetic crowd in Greensboro, several of whom told ABC11 they were more optimistic than ever about Tuesday's election.

But with early voting now wrapped in North Carolina, the push was real on Saturday to make sure NC Republicans turn out in droves on election day.

Trump claimed he's currently ahead in all seven swing states while railing on President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris and vowed to fix a country he said has been broken. Rallygoers -- meantime -- said they're all in with three days to go.

"Very optimistic. I feel like he'll get 300 electoral votes," Don Webb from Highpoint said. "People will be surprised, I think we'll keep the house and take the Senate."

Trump's visit comes one day after his vice presidential candidate JD Vance delivered remarks in Selma where he touched on the state of the economy and illegal immigration, subjects important to Johnston County.

Trump is expected to speak in Kinston on Sunday and then again in Raleigh on Monday.

First Lady Jill Biden announced Saturday she will be returning to North Carolina a day before Election Day to kickoff canvass launches that will encourage North Carolinians to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz

During her visit to the Triangle, Biden plans to highlight Vice President Harris and Governor Walz's vision for a New Way Forward and to encourage North Carolinians to vote early in-person.

Biden's visit comes after VP Harris and Former President Trump both planned to campaign in the state over the weekend as a final push to vote ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.

The events will be in Winston-Salem, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill on Monday, Nov. 4.

"Canvass launch with Winston-Salem voters and volunteers" will be at 11:30 a.m. in Winston-Salem.

Biden will then travel to Carrboro at 2 p.m. for the "Woman for Harris phone bank launch".

Then Biden will travel to Chapel Hill for the "Canvass launch with Orange County voters and volunteers" at 2:30 p.m.

Event locations have not been released.

The United States Postal Service said Saturday that nearly 95% of ballots being delivered from North Carolina voters to local election boards are delivered on time or faster than USPS service standards.

The average time to deliver a ballot in NC is 1.2 days.

Stats from USPS (as of 2:05 p.m.):

• 171,262 ballots have been delivered to and from voters in North Carolina since Sept. 1.

• 94.73% of ballots from voters back to election boards were delivered on time according to the service standard, and on average within 1.21 days

• 99.25% of ballots from voters back election boards were delivered within the recommended seven days

Measures are underway to accelerate the delivery of mail-in ballots in the coming days, USPS said. This includes special pick-ups, extra deliveries and collections, and expanded facility hours.