Kathleen Hopewell News-Times
Originally published by the carteret county News-Times
Carteret County — Early voting in the 2026 Primary Elections appears to be outpacing that of the 2024 Primaries in Carteret County. In just the first seven days of the 2026 Primary Election Early Voting period, Carteret County Board of Elections data shows a 20-percentage point increase in early vote counts compared to the same timeframe in 2024.
Carteret County cast a total 6,372 early votes during the 2024 Primary Election period. Within the first seven days, however, the county Board of Elections had tallied just 2,563 early votes, or 40% of the total early vote count.
The county Board of Elections has counted a total 3,836 early votes in the first seven days of Early Voting in 2026 Primaries, however. This equates to 60% of all early votes cast in the 2024 Primaries—20 percentage points ahead of 2024 early votes cast in the same timeframe.
Early votes in Carteret County amounted to 36.09% of ballots cast in the 2024 Primaries, with the vast majority—11,101 or 62.87% of total 2024 Primary voters—voting in person on Election Day. Approximately 31% of Carteret County voters, or 17,656 voters, cast a ballot in the 2024 Primary election.
Prof. Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, writes in a February 22 blog post on North Carolina Politics that
The Daily Reflector in Greenville also reports higher rates of early voter turnout in Pitt County for the 2026 Primary Elections, compared to the 2024 and 2022 Primaries.
Early voters can cast their ballots at three locations across Carteret County: the County Board of Elections office on Live Oak Street in Beaufort, Fort Benjamin Parks and Recreation on McQueen Avenue in Newport and the Western Park Community Center on Old Hwy 58 in Cedar Point.
Historically, the Board of Elections office has seen the highest number of ballots cast. Even in 2024, when the county also operated a fourth early voting site at the Morehead City Parks and Recreation facility, 2,058 or 32% of ballots were cast at the Board of Elections office. In 2026, the Board of Elections Office has received 1,719 votes so far, compared to 1,193 at Fort Benjamin and 924 at Western Park.
Early voting will conclude this Saturday, Feb. 28. For the remainder of the early voting period, voters may cast their ballots at any of the three polling locations, from 8am to 7:30pm on Monday through Friday, with reduced hours on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 8am to 3pm.
Individuals voting in Republican Party Primaries will have a number of races to consider, including the U.S. Senate race, the U.S. House of Representatives N.C. Congressional District 01 race, the N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 01 on the state and federal level. On the county level, Republicans will have the option to vote on the Republican nomination for Carteret County Sheriff and depending on voters’ residential addresses, the Carteret County Commissioners District 01 and District 03 races, as well as the Carteret County Board of Education District 01 race.
Registered Democrats will have the chance to vote on the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat and the N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 03.
Residents of Morehead City will also have the chance to vote in the city’s Mayoral Runoff election.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections data from Feb. 21, Carteret County’s partisan makeup is as follows:
Total registered voters: 57,326
Democrat: 8372 (14.60%)
Green: 25 (0.04%)
Libertarian: 348 (0.61%)
Republican: 26781 (46.72%)
Unaffiliated: 21800 (38.03%)
For more information on candidates, visit our new elections site: https://carolinacoastelectionwatch.com. To obtain a sample ballot or make your voting plan, visit the North Carolina or Carteret County Board of Elections websites.
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