CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the last push for the White House, polls have Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck-and-neck. The final NBC News poll has both Harris and Trump getting an identical 49% of registered voters.
However, the race could be decided by a surprising factor: the gender gap.
Early voting data shows, nationwide, 53% of the votes cast have been from women. Of the remaining votes, 44% come from men and 3% from unknown.
The disparity is even bigger in North Carolina, with 55% of the votes coming from women, 44% from men, and 1% from unknown.
In theory, this could mean good things for democrats, who are banking on female voters to turn out in support of a female candidate who centers reproductive rights in her campaign messaging.
WCNC Charlotte talked to two young voters who say it's more complicated than that.
"Quite honestly, most of our Young Republican board are women," said Emily Stack, Chair of the North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans.
She says she doesn't see this gender gap reflected in her outreach, despite what the polls may say.
"A lot of us, we're very involved in our careers, or we have kids," Stack said. "It comes down to the economy, and that's an issue that kind of speaks to a lot of us across the board. Can I provide for myself? Can I provide for my family?"
On the other side of the aisle, polls say Eric Willoughby is just as rare. At just 18, he served as North Carolina's youngest delegate at the Democratic National Convention in August. He's been spending the past few months knocking on doors for the Democrats.
"When I talk to young men, they're worried about Donald Trump. I mean, we look at reproductive health care. That impacts both men and women. Access to birth control, whether that be Plan B or condoms, is potentially impacted by whether or not Donald Trump wins," Willoughby said. "Young women, I would say, yes, are more energized. So are young men. I don't think that's something we can discount."
Despite all of this, a Harvard youth poll found the gap between candidates is even bigger amongst young voters. It has Harris leading Trump by 20 points among registered voters under 30.
