RALEIGH, N.C. — Despite fears of Election Day mayhem, the 2016 presidential race is likely to be the most secure in years, according to experts.

That’s because the way America casts and counts its vote is increasingly driven by newer and more reliable technology, they say.

“I don’t think we’d be here if we did believe it was rigged,” Amy Muffo, a software development manager from Raleigh, said while waiting in line Thursday to vote early at the Optimist Community Center in suburban Raleigh.

So why are others worried? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has stoked concern with doomsday predictions of election chaos that experts warn are exaggerated.

Although the Nov. 8 election is national, it is operated at the state and local level, under differing rules in all 50 states. Forty-one states are generally viewed by experts as relatively risk-free, because they deploy optical-scan technology that scans paper ballots or they have printouts of electronic ballots cast as a backup.

It’s the remaining nine states that have generated concern and left room for the perception of manipulation. The vulnerabilities — and how serious they are — differ depending on the state and even the precinct.

Recent high-profile e-mail hacks and lingering problems with voting technology in some parts of the country also fuel fears that a close election between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton could invite tampering.

In North Carolina, where presidential, Senate and governor’s races are all too close to call, voters waited 45 minutes in line Thursday to cast early ballots, even from their cars. Some expressed uneasiness about election security.