North Carolina on Election Day: What to expect

(NewsNation) — Donald Trump has won North Carolina in each of the last two elections, but Democrats have been gaining ground, particularly in the major population centers: Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

If Harris can improve in those areas, Democrats have a chance to win the state for the first time since Barack Obama in 2008.

How votes will be counted

In North Carolina, the polls close at 7:30 p.m. Counties can start processing mail-in ballots at 5:00 p.m., while some counties with passed measures can begin processing mail-in ballots at 2:00 p.m. on Election Day.

While the North Carolina Board of Elections allows for same-day voter registration for early voting — which runs through November 2 — the state does not allow residents to register to vote if they are casting ballots on the day of the general election.

To register to vote the same day during early voting, residents must have a state identification number from their state-issued driver’s license or must have proof of the last four digits of their Social Security number.

North Carolina Senate race in 2022

In the 2022 U.S. Senate race, Democrat Cheri Beasley took a 20-point lead over Ted Budd when the first batches of votes were released after polls closed. That lead disappeared after about 90 minutes when Budd overtook Beasley in the vote count and went on to win the seat. Mail and early in-person votes accounted for about 59% of all ballots in that election.

In statewide elections, the Democratic strongholds are in the Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Fayetteville areas, while Republicans tend to perform best in the western, eastern and southeastern areas of the state. When Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, he won beyond the safe Democratic areas and picked up an additional 11 counties in what were moderate Republican areas.

More than half of those counties may have moved out of reach for Democrats today, as Trump outperformed Biden by double-digit margins in 2020. But that same year, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper picked up Granville, Pasquotank and Scotland counties in his successful reelection bid and reduced the margin in others.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.