News

County logs 11% turnout so far after early voting

Jenny Suchan casts her ballot during early voting.

By Lightning Reports, Published: March 4, 2024

Just over 10,000 voters cast their ballots during the early voting period that ended Saturday, an 11 percent turnout so far in the March 5 primary election that will send national, state and local candidates to the Nov. 5 general election.

Henderson County Elections Director Summer Heatherly said Saturday that there had been no problems or conflict because of the new rules adopted by the state Legislature allowing more partisan poll watchers and that early voting had gone smoothly.

A total of 10,229 of the county's 89,549 voters cast ballots during the 17-day early voting period. Among them was Jenny Suchan, who took advantage of the state's voting access for the blind. Blind since birth, Suchan, accompanied by her mother Susanne, donned elections board-issued headphones and listened to prompts that guided her through the ballot.

"I scrolled up and down when I found the one I wanted, I hit X to select and then I hit the right arrow, the forward, to get me to the next contest," she said. "It means a lot that I was able to have an accessible ballot. I have voted before but I’ve hardly ever had an accessible ballot here or where I used to live in Maryland.”

Jenny, 33, and her parents moved to Hendersonville six years ago from Potomac, Maryland. A pianist and singer, she aspires to compose songs, works as a volunteer at an online radio station and sings in the Carolina Concert Choir.

Given that the most competitve Henderson County races are in the Republican primary, voters overwhelmingly chose GOP ballots — 7,693 to 2,539. (In North Carolina unaffiliated voters can choose a Repubklican or Democratic party ballot.) Early voters were also overwhelmingly white —  9,743 to 105 blacks — and women outnumbered men 5,579 to 4,496.

Precincts that had the highest number of voters were Flat Rock, 661; Atkinson, 609; South Blue Ridge, 567; North Blue Ridge, 450; Clear Creek, 429; Southwest (Valley Hill), 428' and Hendersonville 1 (Hendersonville High School), 422.