After sophomores expressed confusion about how to receive a physical DukeCard to meet N.C. voter eligibility requirements, the DukeCard Office partnered with Duke Votes to distribute ID-only DukeCards to students ahead of Election Day.
Duke Votes representatives are tabling on campus in the weeks leading up to the 2024 general election to provide eligible students with physical DukeCards that meet the N.C. State Board of Elections’ photo ID requirement.
Students can pick up their DukeCard on the Bryan Center Plaza between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. through Friday and between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. For students who cannot make it during those times, cards will also be available in Bryan Center 101 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Oct. 7 through Nov. 5. Students must present a government-issued ID to one of the representatives.
The DukeCard Office did not print IDs for last year’s 56 transfer students to collect at the tabling event.
According to a Tuesday email from Duke Votes Student Chair Chloe Decker, a senior, “[transfer students can] request a free physical DukeCard through the Duke Votes website.”
“Transfer students who did not receive a printed DukeCard will be getting direct communications with information on how to obtain their card,” wrote Katie Lipe, assistant director of Duke State Relations, in an email to The Chronicle later Tuesday afternoon.
In a Sept. 18 email to members of the Class of 2027, Student Affairs clarified that the new cards purely serve as a form of ID and do not contain student funds or provide access to campus buildings.
In 2023, the University moved to digitize DukeCards to reduce their environmental impact, leaving members of the Class of 2027 and incoming transfer students without physical IDs. The same year, the N.C. Supreme Court implemented a 2018 law requiring voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box.
The N.C. State Board of Elections did not approve the mobile DukeCard as an accepted form of identification for students.
Alternate forms of photo ID approved for the general election include an N.C. driver’s license, a U.S. passport or a state ID for N.C. residents. Students can also use an out-of-state ID or driver’s license if they have registered to vote in North Carolina within 90 days of the election.
According to Decker, unclaimed cards can be picked up after Nov. 5 at the DukeCard Office.
To vote in North Carolina, students must register by 5 p.m. Oct. 11.
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Ryan Kilgallen is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.