Women outvoting men by almost 250, according to election board

COLUMBUS — Polk County has turned out 2,577 voters so far, with nine days left of early voting.

One-stop/early voting began last Wednesday and will continue until Saturday, Nov. 3. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Women have outvoted men in Polk County so far by 249 votes. Of the total votes, 1,403 have been by women and 1,154 votes have been by men. Undecided on gender have cast 23 votes, according to figures from the Polk County Board of Elections as of Wednesday morning.

Republicans are also outpacing Democrats so far, which is unusual during early voting. Normally, Democrats vote more during early voting, and Republicans vote more on Election Day in Polk County.

Unaffiliated voters have cast the most votes so far, outvoting Democrats and Republicans by almost 100 votes.

As of Wednesday morning, 814 Democrats had cast votes, compared to 834 Republicans, 924 unaffiliated and five Libertarians.

White voters in Polk County are also casting more early votes, with 2,418 white voters turning out so far. There have been 86 early black voters, five Asians, two American Indians, 8 multi-racial, 18 other and 43 undecided, according to figures from the Polk County Board of Elections Office.

Compared to other election years, the early voting is not as high as the 2016 presidential election at the same time in the early voting process, but they are higher than previous mid-term elections, said Polk County Election Director Cliff Marr.

“In 2016, we were at 2,879 with one less day of voting,” Marr said on Tuesday. “So, the turnout numbers are not as high as the 2016 general election, but they are looking much higher than previous mid-term elections. The early voting turnout in the 2010 general was about 4,100 total, and we are on track to exceed that number.”

Marr said he is hesitant to say that means a higher overall turnout this year, because it could just mean that regular mid-term voters are just voting early.

“Despite the high turnout, our waiting time has been between zero and two minutes,” Marr said. “We encourage Polk County voters to come and visit our office during the highly convenient hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.”

Polk County residents can register to vote at the same time as early voting.

So far, 29 residents have registered to vote while early voting.

Early voting can be done at the Polk County Election’s Office, located on the second floor of the Womack building in downtown Columbus, across from the courthouse.

More information on voting and a sample ballot can be found on the board of election’s page at polknc.org, or by calling the office at 828-894-8181.