
Early voting underway, learn how to track your ballot
Every vote counts. Voter activity this year is forecasted to be very high, with initial record-setting turnouts reported in the area as in-person voting begins across the state.
For the 2024 general election, Cleveland County offers multiple early voting locations from October 17 to November 2. The sites include:
• The LeGrand Center at 1800 E. Marion St., Shelby, NC
• H. Lawrence Patrick Senior Center at 909 E. King St., Kings Mountain, NC
• Boiling Springs Town Hall at 114 E. College Ave., Shelby, NC
• Cleveland County Water – Lawndale Office at 439 Casar-Lawndale Rd., Lawndale, NC
Early voting is underway, running from October 17 to November 2, with operating hours varying daily. You can also request an absentee ballot by mail, which must arrive by General Election Day on November 5. On Election Day, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
For information about voting in Cleveland County, visit https://www.clevelandcounty.com/main/departments/board_of_elections.php.
For Gaston County residents, early voting runs from October 17 to November 2 at several locations, including:
• Gaston County Citizens Resource Center – 1303 Dallas-Cherryville Hwy, Dallas, NC
• Mount Holly Municipal Complex – 400 E. Central Ave, Mount Holly, NC
• Cherryville Fire Department – 411 E. Church St, Cherryville, NC
• Gaston County Board of Elections Office – 410 W. Franklin Blvd, Suite 30, Gastonia, NC
• Gaston County Main Library – 1555 E. Garrison Blvd, Gastonia, NC
Voting hours vary by day, but they are usually from 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and shorter on weekends.
Voters must show a photo ID when voting in person, but if unable to present one, they can still vote by filling out an ID Exception Form.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections reported that 353,166 people voted in person on Thursday, October 17, the first day of early voting, surpassing the record set in 2020 by about 4,500 votes.
Falling below the record but still very active, Cleveland County reported 3,978 early voters on the first day and added 304 initial absentee votes from civilian, military, and overseas mail-in participants.
Gaston County election director Adam Ragan reported that 7,132 ballots were cast Thursday, breaking the previous record of 6,723 early votes on a single day in 2020.
According to county data, Union County also broke its single-day record of 7,541 votes in 2020 after voters cast 8,396 ballots Thursday.
Voters in nearby counties came close to matching 2020's turnout levels but fell short of breaking any records. For example, 29,688 ballots were cast in Mecklenburg County on Thursday, just below the single-day early voting record of 35,195 set in 2020. However, this number significantly increased compared to previous years, with only 3,747 votes cast on the same day in 2023 and 10,971 votes on the first day of early voting in October 2022, according to county data.
Similarly, according to election director Carol Soles, Cabarrus County didn’t reach 2020’s numbers, with 5,690 ballots cast on Thursday, down from 6,191 in 2020. In Iredell County, 6,373 people voted early, and in Lincoln County, 4,268 voters cast ballots, though neither county confirmed whether these figures were record-breaking.
In the Wilmington area, long lines formed at early voting sites, with wait times reported to be as long as two hours. Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state board, noted that this was a common issue across various locations in the state.
In Henderson County, despite the impacts of Hurricane Helene, voters steadily turned out to vote, as reported by the Hendersonville Times-News.
The popularity of early voting has surged in recent years, rising from 55% of voters in the 2008 general election to 65% in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the fourth day of in-person early voting in North Carolina, more than 1 million voters had cast ballots in the 2024 general election, according to preliminary State Board of Elections data.
This turnout total -- 1,008,123 ballots cast -- is broken down into the following voting methods:
• In-person early voting: 916,433
• Absentee (civilian): 77,831
• Absentee (overseas): 11,168
• Absentee (military): 2,691
The ballots cast number represents a statewide turnout of about 13% of North Carolina's nearly 7.8 million registered voters.
Note: These numbers are slightly lower than the actual turnout, as there is a lag between when a voter casts a ballot and when county boards of elections upload this data to the State Board.
If you plan to cast your ballot by mail, you can track its status to verify that your vote is received and accepted. Absentee ballots may be registered with the state’s BallotTrax system at https://northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter/. Once registered, the status of your ballot is tracked each step along the way, from “printed” to “accepted.” Participants receive a series of proactive alerts describing where their ballot is in the process.
The BallotTrax system simply tracks the ballot processing stages. It does not change or update an individual’s voter registration records.
For the 2024 general election, Cleveland County offers multiple early voting locations from October 17 to November 2. The sites include:
• The LeGrand Center at 1800 E. Marion St., Shelby, NC
• H. Lawrence Patrick Senior Center at 909 E. King St., Kings Mountain, NC
• Boiling Springs Town Hall at 114 E. College Ave., Shelby, NC
• Cleveland County Water – Lawndale Office at 439 Casar-Lawndale Rd., Lawndale, NC
Early voting is underway, running from October 17 to November 2, with operating hours varying daily. You can also request an absentee ballot by mail, which must arrive by General Election Day on November 5. On Election Day, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
For information about voting in Cleveland County, visit https://www.clevelandcounty.com/main/departments/board_of_elections.php.
For Gaston County residents, early voting runs from October 17 to November 2 at several locations, including:
• Gaston County Citizens Resource Center – 1303 Dallas-Cherryville Hwy, Dallas, NC
• Mount Holly Municipal Complex – 400 E. Central Ave, Mount Holly, NC
• Cherryville Fire Department – 411 E. Church St, Cherryville, NC
• Gaston County Board of Elections Office – 410 W. Franklin Blvd, Suite 30, Gastonia, NC
• Gaston County Main Library – 1555 E. Garrison Blvd, Gastonia, NC
Voting hours vary by day, but they are usually from 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and shorter on weekends.
Voters must show a photo ID when voting in person, but if unable to present one, they can still vote by filling out an ID Exception Form.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections reported that 353,166 people voted in person on Thursday, October 17, the first day of early voting, surpassing the record set in 2020 by about 4,500 votes.
Falling below the record but still very active, Cleveland County reported 3,978 early voters on the first day and added 304 initial absentee votes from civilian, military, and overseas mail-in participants.
Gaston County election director Adam Ragan reported that 7,132 ballots were cast Thursday, breaking the previous record of 6,723 early votes on a single day in 2020.
According to county data, Union County also broke its single-day record of 7,541 votes in 2020 after voters cast 8,396 ballots Thursday.
Voters in nearby counties came close to matching 2020's turnout levels but fell short of breaking any records. For example, 29,688 ballots were cast in Mecklenburg County on Thursday, just below the single-day early voting record of 35,195 set in 2020. However, this number significantly increased compared to previous years, with only 3,747 votes cast on the same day in 2023 and 10,971 votes on the first day of early voting in October 2022, according to county data.
Similarly, according to election director Carol Soles, Cabarrus County didn’t reach 2020’s numbers, with 5,690 ballots cast on Thursday, down from 6,191 in 2020. In Iredell County, 6,373 people voted early, and in Lincoln County, 4,268 voters cast ballots, though neither county confirmed whether these figures were record-breaking.
In the Wilmington area, long lines formed at early voting sites, with wait times reported to be as long as two hours. Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state board, noted that this was a common issue across various locations in the state.
In Henderson County, despite the impacts of Hurricane Helene, voters steadily turned out to vote, as reported by the Hendersonville Times-News.
The popularity of early voting has surged in recent years, rising from 55% of voters in the 2008 general election to 65% in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the fourth day of in-person early voting in North Carolina, more than 1 million voters had cast ballots in the 2024 general election, according to preliminary State Board of Elections data.
This turnout total -- 1,008,123 ballots cast -- is broken down into the following voting methods:
• In-person early voting: 916,433
• Absentee (civilian): 77,831
• Absentee (overseas): 11,168
• Absentee (military): 2,691
The ballots cast number represents a statewide turnout of about 13% of North Carolina's nearly 7.8 million registered voters.
Note: These numbers are slightly lower than the actual turnout, as there is a lag between when a voter casts a ballot and when county boards of elections upload this data to the State Board.
If you plan to cast your ballot by mail, you can track its status to verify that your vote is received and accepted. Absentee ballots may be registered with the state’s BallotTrax system at https://northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter/. Once registered, the status of your ballot is tracked each step along the way, from “printed” to “accepted.” Participants receive a series of proactive alerts describing where their ballot is in the process.
The BallotTrax system simply tracks the ballot processing stages. It does not change or update an individual’s voter registration records.