2.6 million ballots cast early in North Carolina

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RALEIGH -- Nearly 2.6 million people in North Carolina have already cast a ballot, with blacks and registered Democrats voting in greater numbers than in 2004.

State Board of Elections data shows that 52 percent of people who have voted so far are registered Democrats, while 30 percent are registered Republicans. By comparison, about 46 percent of all registered voters in the state are declared Democrats while 32 percent are with the GOP.

The early voting volume far outpaced the numbers from four years ago, when only 1.1 million cast a ballot before Election Day.

Numbers indicate that blacks -- likely galvanized by the candidacy of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama -- are surging to the polls. They comprise of 26 percent of voters so far, even though blacks are only 21 percent of the state's population.


link: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6484274#bodyText