With National Voter Registration Day this Tuesday, The Chronicle is here with information on how to register on time.
The 2024 general election will be held Nov. 5, and registered North Carolinian voters will be able to cast their ballots at designated polling places.
Voting in North Carolina
To vote in North Carolina, you need to register by 5 p.m. Oct. 11.
If you’ve already registered in the past, you can check the North Carolina State Board of Elections voter registration database to ensure your registration is still active. You can also update your address if it has changed from the previous year. If you’re a Duke student who moved from East Campus to West Campus or from West Campus to Swift or off campus since last registering, you must update your address.
If you’re a first time North Carolina voter, you can print out a voter registration application and submit it by mail to your county’s board of elections.
The Duke Votes website offers sample registration forms to assist with filling out the application depending on whether you live on East Campus, West Campus or Swift. Duke Votes is also hosting multiple tabling events in advance of the Oct. 11 deadline to aid students with their voter registration — see the schedule here.
First-time voters who hold a North Carolina driver’s license or N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles-issued ID can alternatively register online or in person at the DMV. The online voter registration application can be accessed on the DMV website.
Same-day registration at polling locations is also available during the early voting period, which runs from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2. The Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center will operate as an on-campus early voting location again this year.
North Carolinians voting from out of state can request absentee ballots any time before 5 p.m. Oct. 29, and they must be returned by 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5. Absentee ballot deadlines differ for overseas voters — see The Chronicle’s guide to voting abroad for more information.
Students who live on campus must show a Duke ID card to provide proof of residency. The mobile DukeCard was not approved by the NCSBE as an acceptable form of photo ID — students without a physical DukeCard can request one from the DukeCard Office.
Duke students who live off campus must provide a Duke-issued document as proof of residency in addition to a Duke ID. Acceptable documents may include an invoice, transcript, correspondence or a print-out or screenshot displaying your name and residential address.
On Election Day, students who live on East Campus will vote at George Watts Elementary School — 700 Watts St., Durham, N.C. 27701 — and students who live on West Campus will vote at Patterson Recreation Center — 2614 Crest St., Durham, N.C. 27705. According to the NCSBE, polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m on Election Day, and voters in line at their assigned polling place by 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to cast their vote.
Voting out of state
Every state has different registration requirements and deadlines, so if you are currently registered or plan to register to vote in your home state, you can search for the relevant policies here.
You need to request an absentee ballot before your state's deadlines. While the deadline to request an absentee ballot varies across states, all absentee ballots must be mailed in by Election Day: Nov. 5.
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Aseel Ibrahim is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.