Just four days into early voting, 1,008,123 North Carolinians have cast their ballots, marking an all-time record turnout for the state.
The over 1 million votes account for roughly 13% of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters. Of the votes, 916,433 were cast in person. Of the remaining 91,690 absentee votes, 77,831 were cast by civilians, 11,168 by overseas voters and 2,691 by the military.
On Oct. 17 alone — the first day of early voting — 353,166 voters cast their ballots, marking a 1.3% increase from the 348,559 voter turnout in 2020.
In western parts of the state hit by Hurricane Helene in late September, 76 of the 80 early voting sites were open beginning Oct. 17.
As of Oct. 20, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a narrow 0.5 percentage point lead in North Carolina’s polls. It is unclear whether the record turnout benefits the former president or Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
According to the University’s latest student voter engagement report conducted in October 2021, early voter turnout increased 33 percentage points from 2016 to 2020. The overall student voting rate between those years also marked an increase of 14.5 percentage points from 55.7% to 70.2%.
There is no public information currently available on early voting participation among Duke students or at campus early voting locations.
Students planning to vote early can cast their ballot at the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sundays up until Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. They must present a valid photo ID such as a DukeCard, driver’s license or U.S. passport.
Same-day registration is also available for students who have not yet registered. Those who would like to do so must show proof of residence, which they can do by presenting a document from the University including their name and housing address.
Students can check their registration status and access a sample ballot with the list of candidates and ballot referenda on the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Winston Qian is a Pratt sophomore and health/science editor for the news department.