With Fayetteville’s primary election fast approaching, Cumberland County election officials report a small uptick in early voter turnout compared to the municipal election cycle in 2023.
Cumberland County Board of Elections Director Angie Amaro told CityView that polling places saw 3,544 early votes tallied as of Thursday afternoon — slightly more than the 3,500 total of early voters in 2023.
A graphic posted to the Cumberland County Board of Elections Facebook page showed the unofficial total number of early voters had climbed to 4,208 by the time the polls closed on Friday.
Though election officials report a slight uptick in early voting rates between this year and 2023, the over 4,200 ballots cast account for only about 3.2% of the city’s 131,465 active and inactive registered voters.
Amaro told CityView she thinks the bump is due to the higher number of candidates on the mayoral and city council ballots during this cycle. This year, there are 10 mayoral candidates running in the primary and 26 candidates running for city council across all of Fayetteville’s nine districts, according to Cumberland County’s current candidate list.
Amaro said on Thursday that 756 absentee ballots were sent out for the primary election this year, and 44 have been returned so far.
Board of Elections Chair Linda Devore also said the increase in early voting is being driven by the number of candidates running in the current election cycle.
“Our voter turnout follows the volume of candidate selections we have,” Devore said. “We’ve never had 10 mayoral candidates in a primary before.”
Five contested city district races are also helping to drive voting interest in Fayetteville, a contrast from the 2019 municipal election where the mayor and several other city council candidates ran unopposed, Devore said.
Under North Carolina law, municipalities use primaries for nonpartisan races when a position has more than two candidates vying for the elected office, which is happening in this year’s mayoral race as well as in Districts 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. The primary narrows the ballot down to just two candidates who will advance to the municipal election in November.
The early voting period for Fayetteville’s primary election will end at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. During the remainder of the early voting period, voters can cast their ballot at the Cumberland County Board of Elections Office, 227 Fountainhead Lane.
Voters may also register in person and vote the same day during the early voting period, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. Residents must be registered to vote prior to the primary election, as the opportunity to register and cast a same-day vote ends with the early voting period.
On primary election day — Oct. 7 — registered voters must report to their designated polling place to cast their votes.
For more information about Cumberland County’s upcoming municipal elections, visit CityView’s municipal election guide.
