Durham early voting just under 100K

97, 697 was the final total of votes cast during the early voting period in Durham this year. Early predictions by the BOE office suggested 90-100K so not too shabby. With about 175000 registered voters (more could have been added during early voting) about 50% of potential voters have already cast their ballots which is amazing. As Kevin noted earlier, 110,000 was the total number of votes cast in Durham in the record-setting year of 2004, so expect to see that record smashed on Tuesday.

Here is the final updates for each early voting site, first with the totals through 10/25 and then with the final numbers:

Board of Elections office: 10, 702/19,452
Duke: 4,498/9,361
East Regional Library: 5,320/11.031
Forestview Elementary: 3,526/7,254
NC Central: 7,054/14,353
North Regional Library: 9,429/17,421
Southwest Elementary: 9,420/18,825

Last chance to vote early by 5 today

The photo above was taken outside the Durham Board of Elections office this morning about 9:30. Not too bad a line -- someone who'd been at the Southwest location earlier this morning said that the wait was about 45 minutes. Whatever it is it's going to be better than election day ... so get out there and vote if you haven't already!

50,000 votes and climbing!

Okay, technically it's 49,949 but it's pretty darned close. That's the number of people who have already cast ballots in Durham County as of 10/25/08. (All stats in this post courtesy of the Durham Board of Elections and the BOE PDF.)

Here's the breakdown by site:

Board of Elections office: 10, 702 (21%)
Duke: 4,498 (9%)
East Regional Library: 5,320 (11%)
Forestview Elementary: 3,526 (7%)
NC Central: 7,054 (14%)
North Regional Library: 9,429 (19%)
Southwest Elementary: 9,420 (19%)

There are 175,000 registered voters in Durham and the BOE is expecting about 90-100,000 total early voters, so expect to see some big increases in the numbers above by the end of the day on November 1.

One number leaps out: why is Duke so paltry? Apparently there was a lot of interest in and support from the Duke community to get this location (new this year) but that's a seriously puny turnout. C'mon Blue Devils -- do something right for a change.

Go democracy!

EDIT: After checking the State Board of Elections site it looks like more than 1 million people in the state have already voted early, making Durham's total about 5% of the statewide total. The state site has breakdowns in race and party as well ... more on that later.