2022 Primary Election Turnout

North Carolina’s 2022 statewide primary election was on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. The purpose of a primary is to narrow the field of candidates for the general election. The May 2022 election was unique because it included municipal contests rescheduled from 2021. On this page, you can explore turnout statistics for North Carolina’s 2022 primary election and comparative statistics for recent even-year statewide primary elections.

Overall Turnout

Breakdown of voter turnout for North Carolina’s 2022 primary election:

Eligible voters: 7,236,469
Ballots cast: 1,432,819
Turnout: 20%

Voting Methods

Breakdown of voting methods in North Carolina’s 2022 primary election:

Absentee by mail: 2%
Early voting: 39%
In person on Election Day: 59%
Provisional: <1%

Voter Turnout by Race

The table below shows the breakdown of voter turnout by race in North Carolina’s 2022 primary election.

Table 1: North Carolina Voter Turnout by Race in the 2022 Primary Election
Race	Votes	Voters	Turnout (%)
Asian	8,674	111,461	7.8%
Black or African American	261,170	1,490,236	17.5%
American Indian or Alaska Native	7,196	53,838	13.4%
Two Or More Races	4,393	42,812	10.3%
Other	15,320	218,449	7.0%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	41	495	8.3%
Undesignated	47,929	612,897	7.8%
White	1,087,630	4,759,944	22.8%

Voter Turnout by Ethnicity

The table below shows the breakdown of voter turnout by ethnicity in North Carolina’s 2022 primary election.

Table 2: North Carolina Voter Turnout by Ethnicity in the 2022 Primary Election
Ethnicity	Votes	Voters	Turnout (%)
Hispanic or Latino	13,767	250,497	5.5%
Not Hispanic or Not Latino	1,163,453	5,186,813	22.4%
Undesignated	255,133	1,852,823	13.8%

Absentee By Mail and Early Voting

Explore North Carolina’s 2022 primary election absentee by mail and early voting PDF reports:

Early Voting Stats

In the table below, see the number of voters who cast a ballot in person during the early voting period, by ballot party type.

Table 3: North Carolina Early Voters by Ballot Party Type in the 2022 Primary Election
Election - Ballot Party Type	Early Voters
2022 Primary - Democratic Ballot	295,732
2022 Primary - Republican Ballot	287,657
2022 Primary - Nonpartisan Ballot	1,762
Total	585,225

Comparative Statistics

Below, explore the turnout data for recent North Carolina statewide primary elections.

Previous Statewide Primary Voter Turnout

In the table below, see the breakdown of voter turnout for the four most recent statewide primary elections, including two midterm and two presidential-year primary elections.

Table 4: North Carolina Voter Turnout for Recent Primary Elections Prior to 2022
Election	Eligible Voters	Ballots Cast	Turnout (%)
2020 Primary	6,940,995	2,164,731	31%
2018 Primary (midterm)	6,674,290	957,627	14%
2016 Primary	6,511,143	2,323,590	37%
2014 Primary (midterm)	6,516,126	1,028,600	16%

Previous Statewide Primary Voting Methods

In the table below, see the breakdown of voting methods in the four most recent statewide primary elections, including two midterm and two presidential-year primary elections.

Table 5: North Carolina Voting Methods for Recent Primary Elections Prior to 2022
Election	Absentee By Mail (%)	Early Voting (%)	In Person on Election Day (%)	Provisional (%)
2020 Primary	1%	36%	62%	<1%
2018 Primary (midterm)	1%	30%	69%	<1%
2016 Primary	2%	29%	68%	~1%
2014 Primary (midterm)	1%	25%	74%	<1%

Previous Statewide Primary Voter Turnout, by Party

In North Carolina primary elections, voters affiliated with a political party may only vote for their party’s ballot and may not vote in another party’s primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose any one political party’s ballot or a nonpartisan ballot (if available). In the tables below, see the breakdown of voter turnout in the four most recent statewide Democratic and Republican primary elections.

Note: Data for the Libertarian primary elections were not included for comparison since was no Libertarian primary in 2022.

Democratic Primary Turnout

Table 6: North Carolina Democratic and Unaffiliated Voters in Recent Democratic Primary Elections Prior to 2022
Election	Democrats Who Voted	Unaffiliated Who Voted
2020 Democratic Primary	954,976	388,381
2018 Democratic Primary (midterm)	431,875	112,481
2016 Democratic Primary	928,660	231,909
2014 Democratic Primary (midterm)	450,194	60,873

Republican Primary Turnout

Table 7: North Carolina Republican and Unaffiliated Voters in Recent Republican Primary Elections Prior to 2022
Election	Republicans Who Voted	Unaffiliated Who Voted
2020 Republican Primary	606,822	201,614
2018 Republican Primary (midterm)	294,295	113,425
2016 Republican Primary	846,545	309,414
2014 Republican Primary (midterm)	393,439	112,728

Data sources: voter history stats for 2020, 2018, 2016, and 2014 primary elections.

Previous Statewide Primary Absentee By Mail and Early Voter Turnout

In the 2018 statewide primary, over 295,000 North Carolinians voted early or absentee by mail. Explore the daily absentee by mail and early voting PDF reports here: 2018 May 8 Election - Absentee Request Stats PDFs (folder).