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

As North Carolinians continue to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, early voting begins Thursday in the critical swing state.

The more than 353,000 ballots cast signaled enthusiasm in the battleground state, but the significance of the high turnout was unclear.

Early in-person voting has started in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina. That includes in the mountains, where some potential voters still lack power and clean running water after Hurricane Helene’s epic flooding last month.

State officials are tracking impassable roads and contacting voters who requested absentee ballots to try to get them delivered.

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.

“Yesterday’s turnout is a clear sign that voters are energized about this election, that they trust the elections process, and that a hurricane will not stop North Carolinians from exercising their right to vote,” Brinson Bell said in a press release Friday.

In spite of the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, a record number of North Carolinians casted a vote on the first day of early voting in the state.

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,

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on the first day of early in-person voting in one of the mountainous counties badly affected by Hurricane Helene, in Marion, North Carolina, U.S. October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

Early voting begins in the battleground state of North Carolina on Thursday, as the western part of the state still feels the impacts of Hurricane Helene’s flooding three weeks later. More than 400 voting locations in the state’s 100 counties were expected to open Thursday for the early voting period,