North Carolina voters set a first-day early voting record despite ongoing hurricane recovery efforts across the state. Residents cast 353,166 in-person ballots Thursday, the state’s board of elections said,

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More North Carolina residents turned out to cast ballots on the first day of early voting this year than in 2020, even as residents from the mountainous western portion of the state continued to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.

North Carolina's elections board said Friday that 353,166 people cast ballots in the state's first day of early voting.

On the first day of early voting, residents of western North Carolina weighed which candidates would most help their yearslong recovery.

North Carolinians set a record on the first day of early voting in the state, casting 353,166 ballots on Thursday and becoming the second battleground state this week to top its previous mark.

Bell said 65 percent of North Carolina voters cast their ballot during in-person early voting in 2020. Early voting will be available until Nov. 2, the Saturday before Election Day. Voters can request an absentee ballot until Tuesday, Oct. 29. The deadline to return an absentee ballot is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina (Reuters) -Polls opened for early voting on Thursday in North Carolina - a critical battleground in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election - just weeks after Hurricane Helene left some residents still without power,

Turnout for early in-person voting started strong Thursday in the presidential battleground of North Carolina, including in mountainous areas where Hurricane Helene destroyed property and upended lives but apparently did not dampen a fierce desire to participate in elections.