"The conditions improve each and every day," the executive director of North Carolina's State Board of Elections said.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

With the election less than three weeks away, many residents are still reeling from Helene. This has led to some drastic changes to the voting process.

“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.

Unlike some other swing states, it won’t take days to know which presidential candidate won in the Tar Heel state.