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County has already cast 7,849 votes

COLUMBUS—With a week left until the election, Polk County has already turned out almost half of its registered voters.

As of Tuesday morning, Polk County had cast 7,849 votes. The county has a total of 16,135 registered voters, which is 48.6 percent turnout so far.

Early voting continues until this Saturday at the Polk County Board of Elections Office, located on the second floor of the Womack building in Columbus.

Of the total votes cast so far, 2,866 have come from unaffiliated voters, 2,734 have come from republican voters and 2,210 have come from democrat voters.

There have been 26 libertarian votes, 7 constitution party votes and 6 green party votes so far.

The Tryon precinct has voted the most at 1,697 votes, followed by Columbus 2 with 1,615 votes. Columbus 1 has cast 1,194 votes; Green Creek at 1,164 votes; White Oak with 790 votes; Saluda with 722 votes and Coopers Gap with 666 votes.

Women in Polk County have voted the most so far, with 4,255 votes compared to men with 3,347 votes.

Of the total votes in Polk County so far, 5,538 have been through the one-stop early voting (in-person) and 2,311 have been by mail.

Most of the votes so far have been by white people at 7,034, with undesignated at 436, African American at 294, other at 41, Asian at 20, two or more races at 17 and Native American at 7.

Early voting can be done at the Polk County Board of Elections Office until Saturday, Oct. 31.

People can register to vote while early voting as well as make changes, such as a change of address while early voting only. Registration cannot be done on Election Day.

Photo identification is not in effect for this election in North Carolina. Voters will be asked to state their name and residential address when they check-in to vote.

Polk County is taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Poll workers are behind plexiglass shields, are wearing masks and will social distance as much as possible. Voting booths will also be cleaned on a regular basis and pens are one-time use and voters can either keep the pens or discard them.

Early voting can be done on weekdays from 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. and the last day of early voting will be Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Election Day will be Tuesday, Nov. 3, when registered voters can vote at their polling places from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

For more information about this year’s election, visit polknc.org or call the election office at 828-894-8181.