On Monday, a study by the Pew Charitable Trust showed North Carolina to have some of the highest voter turnout in the country in the 2012 election cycle.
The study had 17 measures of voting to determine voting wait time, ease of registration, voter registration rejections, problems with disabled voters and provisional balloting.
In between 2008 and 2012, North Carolina jumped from having the 20th highest ranking to having the 8th highest ranking in the study's Election Performance Index.
The state also saw a jump in voter registration from 84.5 percent in 2008 to 88.8 percent in 2012 and saw voter wait time drop from 21 minutes to 13.5 minutes.
North Carolina was also highlighted for having mail-in ballots and in-person early voting. These increase in rankings came despite the state having a slightly smaller turnout rate in 2012 of 65 percent than 2008, which saw a 66 percent voter turnout rate.
The study adds to research Brennan Center at New York University Law School did last year which showed North Carolina was among the states with the highest amounts of early voting.
But since 2012, North Carolina passed a voter ID law which required a photo ID to vote, and cut early in-person early voting by a week, but expanded mail-in voting. It remains to be seen what effects the law has on voter turnout in the state.
View from the Hill is a political blog by Daily Tar Heel staff writers. Any opinion expressed in it does not represent the Daily Tar Heel. Email the blog coordinator at dthviewfromthehill@gmail.com.
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