GASTONIA, N.C. — With election day drawing near, candidates are continuing one last push to get people to the polls.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was in Gastonia on Sunday to further push his campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris. He stressed the importance of people hitting the polls in North Carolina, which is anticipated to be a swing state.
Walz blasted former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, for rhetoric about division.
Trump was also in North Carolina on Sunday. He visited Lenoir County a day after he was in Gastonia and Greensboro. Trump criticized the Biden-Harris administration for inflation and immigration.
The 2024 general election turnout exceeded 4 million people in North Carolina. The ballots cast through Friday, approximately 4 million, represents a turnout of more than half (51.2%) of registered voters in the Tar Heel State.
"This is really good news for North Carolina," Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections said. "For the eligible North Carolinians who haven't voted yet, you still have time to make your voice heard."
Early voting has become the most popular option in North Carolina lately. In 2020, 65% of voters used the early voting period to cast their ballots, the SBE said. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Recent polling shows a dead heat between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in North Carolina. Trump carried the state in 2016 and 2020, but his margin of victory shrank from 3% in 2016 to 1% in 2020. Both candidates have visited the state several times in recent weeks, with Trump and Harris each hosting rallies in the Charlotte area on Saturday to encourage supporters on the final day of early voting.