Journey to the polls: Nonprofit Durham Drives provides free rides to voting sites on Election Day

“Starting route to Watts Elementary School,” Nancy Nye’s car intoned as she pulled onto Chapel Drive to take two young voters to the polls. Nye, a volunteer for Durham Drives, had picked up juniors Alyzea Benjamin and Edison Ooi to vote for their second time on Tuesday afternoon. 

Durham Drives, a grassroots non-profit founded by senior Hannah McKnight in 2020, is an organization that provides “free, safe, and well-organized personal transportation to and from voting locations throughout Early Voting and Election Day.” Since its inception, over 500 people have volunteered with Durham Drives. In 2020, volunteers drove over 2,000 people to the polls. 

On Tuesday, Durham Drives had a table positioned in the shadow of the Duke Chapel. While Durham Drives offered rides to voters from Durham Station downtown during early voting, the decision to offer rides from West Campus on Election Day was a last minute one. 

Sunday night, volunteers realized that hundreds of Duke students had registered to vote, but had not yet cast their ballots, according to McKnight. Students and community members scrambled to set up Duke Drives on campus in time for Tuesday. 

“We literally put this together overnight,” McKnight said. By the end of the day, she estimated they had driven at least 200 students and residents. 

Benjamin had originally planned to ride the bus to 300 Swift apartments and then walk to Watts Elementary School until she realized it was more than a 20 minute walk away. She had not planned on voting until her sixth grade history teacher texted her and asked about her voting plan.

“I didn’t understand why it was important until she messaged me,” she said. 

After a short drive, Nye pulled into Watts Elementary’s parking lot. The pair hopped out of the car and walked into the gymnasium to cast their ballot. 

While Benjamin and Ooi were voting, Nye spoke about how she became involved with Durham Drives. She had volunteered with “Get Out the Vote” efforts before and discovered Durham Drives through a neighborhood email list. 

Another volunteer, Steve Tell, Pratt ‘89, was also waiting to drive a voter back to campus. He said he’s “trying to do what little I can to help out.” 

Nye offered Benjamin and Ooi each a KIND bar as they climbed back into the car. She asked them how their voting experience was. 

“I was confused because it said select one option only, but it only had one option,” Benjamin responded. 

As Nye turned back onto Chapel Drive, Ooi asked, “Do we know how close it’s going to be?” 

Nye let out an exasperated sigh. “North Carolina is a purple state, and you feel it’s going really well [in Durham] until you see the rest of the state.” 

The discussion pivoted to how close the North Carolina Senate race is between Democrat Cheri Beasley and Republican Rep. Ted Budd. “Your vote really could matter,” Nye said to Ooi. 

Back at the West Campus bus stop, students were still gathering around the Durham Drives table. Organizer Beth Bernhardt helped students look up their correct polling site and coordinate rides with drivers. 

After confirming their registration, Bernhardt walked first-year Brooke Hira and junior Andy He to a car belonging to another volunteer, Ron Gallagher. When the pair got in, Gallagher joked, “Let’s race the bus.” 

This is Gallagher’s first year driving voters to the polls. Formerly a Raleigh News and Observer reporter, he was excited to be able to engage in voter outreach for the first time. 

Hira, a first-time voter, had done “ [her] research” as she walked into the polling site. When she got back in the car, she was met with an eager fist bump from Gallagher. 

“Congratulations on voting,” he told her with a smile before heading back to East Campus. 

At 7 p.m., 30 minutes before polls closed, Berndart was still by the Durham Drive’s table. Under an ink-colored sky, her voice cut through the buzz of students walking across campus with a last call to vote. 

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