Whether campaigning for a particular candidate or attempting to engage voters across the political spectrum, student organizations at Duke are ramping up their efforts to mobilize student voters ahead of the 2024 general election.
Duke Votes has been one of the most active groups on campus this election cycle, though it does not promote a particular political ideology. According to its website, the nonpartisan, student-led organization “aims to register, educate and mobilize the Duke community to vote.”
Student representatives have been tabling every week on the Bryan Center Plaza and outside of Marketplace to help students register and provide information about the voting process. Student Chair Chloe Decker, a senior, said that the organization had already registered “approximately over 1,500 people in the Duke community” in September alone.
Duke Votes partnered with the DukeCard Office earlier this semester to distribute student IDs that meet the N.C. State Board of Elections’ newly implemented photo ID requirement. Students who have not received a physical ID can pick up their identification-only DukeCard in Bryan Center 101 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through Election Day.
Duke Votes has also been using social media to connect students — both on campus and abroad — with voting information.
“We see Instagram as a much more accessible resource, so our goal is to have everything that's emailed out or on the Duke Votes website also shared out on our Instagram,” Decker said.
The University has also seen a resurgence in more issue-driven political advocacy groups this election cycle.
Duke Democrats has become more active following Kamala Harris' July announcement of her presidential campaign.
Duke Democrats President Annika Aristimuno, a junior, explained that after helping to start Duke Students for Harris-Walz, the group then revived the Duke Democrats organization after a period of inactivity.
Aristimuno asserted that “students are way more interested in mobilizing and being involved” in the election with Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket. She shared that she originally intended to study abroad in the fall but was inspired to stay on campus and “do whatever it took to help flip North Carolina blue.”
Duke Democrats has been engaging students by phone banking to encourage voter turnout, tabling on BC Plaza to educate students on Democratic candidates and hosting general body meetings featuring guest speakers. Last month, N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton spoke on campus about down-ballot races and voter engagement at an event sponsored by Duke Democrats.
Until recently, Duke did not have a Republican parallel to Duke Democrats. For the past few years, the Ciceronian Society stood as the main outlet for conservative or “right of center” perspectives on campus.
“I wouldn't say our goal as a club is to take strong political stances on any particular issue,” said Ciceronian Society Event Coordinator Lancer Caswell, a sophomore. “It's more about creating an environment where everyone feels safe to share political opinions.”
According to Caswell, the Ciceronian Society has refrained from mobilizing students and its members for direct political campaigns.
Last week, Duke College Republicans was revived by junior Zander Pitrus — now its president — after a four-year hiatus due to ideological tensions within the group in 2020.
Pitrus, who presented himself as “an advocate for Republican and conservative values on campus,” re-founded the group after a Duke Students for Trump Instagram account became active earlier in the semester. While he appreciated the page’s utility as an anonymous outlet for students who were “afraid of sharing [conservative] perspectives” in a more public setting, he felt Duke’s campus was missing a more formalized organization in support of Republican ideology.
Pitrus acknowledged that with only a few weeks left until Election Day, the organization will likely not be able to do much in terms of voter mobilization. However, he hopes that in the long term, the club will unite Republicans on campus in an environment that promotes civil discourse.
“I don't think my purpose here is to really persuade anyone in this election,” he said, noting that instead, he advocates for Duke community members to “understand that there are Republican perspectives on campus.
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