By Nathan Ham
Early Voting will officially come to a close on Saturday and it has been a strong turnout so far in Watauga County.
A total of 12,915 citizens have already voted in Watauga County and over 1,000 people voted on Thursday alone. There are 47,231 registered voters in Watauga County, meaning just over 27 percent of those registered to vote have already made their ballots official.
4,933 votes have been counted at the early voting site on Appalachian State’s campus. 4,114 voters cast their ballots at the Watauga County Administration building, 1,173 people have voted early in Blowing Rock and 1,086 voters have voted early at the Western Watauga Community Center. 924 votes have been counted at Deep Gap and 685 votes have been counted at Meat Camp.
Unaffiliated voters have moved ahead of both parties in the early voting totals with 4,765 votes being tallied. 4,610 votes from Democrats have been counted and 3,370 Republicans have voted early. 58 Libertarian votes, three Green Party votes and two Constitution Party votes have been counted so far.
Early voting will end on Saturday at 1 p.m. Voters can still vote on Friday until 7 p.m. or vote on Saturday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The early voting locations in Watauga County are: Watauga County Administration Building Commissioners’ Board Room (814 W. King Street, Boone), ASU Plemmons Student Union Blue Ridge Ballroom (263 Locust Street, Boone), Blowing Rock Town Hall (1036 Main Street, Blowing Rock), Deep Gap Fire Department (6583 Old Highway 421 South, Deep Gap), Meat Camp Fire Department (4797 N.C. Highway 194 North, Boone) and Western Watauga Community Center (1081 Old Highway 421, Sugar Grove).