Locals, elected officials and candidates gather at the Caldwell County Republican Party’s election watch party, awaiting both local and national results to come in.
CALDWELL COUNTY — The 2024 election saw record turnout both in Caldwell County and statewide. Although a majority of the turnout in this election was seen during early voting, a sizable number came out on Election Day to cast their votes. An interview with Caldwell County Board of Elections director Chad Barnes reveals some insights into this election and the electoral process.
The Numbers
Note: some numbers may change depending on the number of absentee ballots that will come in over the coming days.
In total, 43,467 voters cast ballots as of Wednesday, Nov. 6, representing 78.24% of the 55,554 registered voters in the county. 34,608 voters voted early, approximately 62% of the county’s registered. This leaves 7,393 voters on Election Day and 1,466 absentee ballots received thus far.
North Carolina as a whole saw 5,669,148 ballots cast, 73% of the state’s 7,763,502 registered voters, also as of Wednesday.
Voters
Voters at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and Mulberry Recreation Center precincts discussed some of their motivations for coming out to vote.
Tanli Carlton was voting in her first election, and said, “t his is the first election that I can vote in. It’s our civic duty to be out here for all people and for change in the world.”
Locals, elected officials and candidates gather at the Caldwell County Republican Party’s election watch party, awaiting both local and national results to come in.
A few voters, like Brianna Patterson, said they were motivated by women’s health and the overturning of Roe V. Wade. Ryan Goodson, on the other hand, said he was motivated by the passing of abortion restrictions and candidates that supported them, and looked forward to seeing stricter ones added down the line.
A.J. Ortega said, “I think it’s important especially for the latino community, for those who had the ability to vote, to vote for those who can’t.”
The theme of civic duty, and the responsibility inherent to voting within a democratic society, as the most prevalent of voters’ motivations in this election.
The Interview
In an interview with the News-Topic, elections board director Chad Barnes said that the 7,393 voters seen on Election Day exceeded 2020’s numbers but not by as much as the early voting results may have suggested. Barnes did not believe that Tuesday’s rain depressed the turnout.
“We just had more folks vote early,” Barnes said, “There were a few more people [than in 2020], but most folks voted early.”
Barnes also said that the county saw an uptick in the number of first time and inactive voters going to the polls, including voters who had only voted once and voters who had not voted in the last couple of elections. Barnes said that presidential elections tend to see a higher turnout.
Barnes also said everything from collecting to counting the votes went smoothly and without anomaly, though he said that the high number of early votes slowed the counting somewhat.
“Everybody did a fantastic job,” he said. “Thanks again to all our election officials, everything went really well. I’m glad we had a good turnout, we’re excited about the participation, that people used their voice.”