Duke students reflect on voting experiences, GOTV efforts on campus

Following “Get Out the Vote” efforts spearheaded by Duke students on campus, The Chronicle spoke to Duke students about their experience voting in the 2024 general election.

Students shared largely positive feedback, feeling well-informed about how to register and cast their vote. Many students opted to vote early at The Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center, which set a new Duke early voting record with 13,956 early voters, an increase of 1,262 voters since 2020.

“I think Duke did a great job of encouraging students to vote and showing people where and how to vote,” said first-year Mia DePaolo. 

Duke Votes and other student organizations tabled on the Bryan Center Plaza in the days leading up to the Oct. 11 registration deadline, providing students with guidance on how to register. 

Sophomore Amy Gyang found it easy to register to vote. She believes that the various organizations “basically did it all for [her],” adding that “[she] just had to fill out the paperwork.”

The DukeCard Office partnered with Duke Votes to distribute physical DukeCards to students in the Class of 2027 to comply with North Carolina’s physical ID requirement.

Sophomore Tylie Friedland picked up her physical DukeCard on BC Plaza but opted to use her driver’s license as her form of identification. She did not personally know of many other sophomores who picked up their physical cards.

Like many students, first-year Chloe Broser registered to vote in North Carolina, rather than her home state of New York, sharing that she felt her vote would “contribute more” in a swing state.

Gyang explained that she was encouraged by her peers to vote early.

Although many Duke students opted to vote in person, others completed absentee ballots to maintain their voter registration in their home counties. 

“I voted absentee — still for North Carolina — just [in] Charlotte,” junior Kennedy Wallace said. “... I was nervous about my ballot not being counted … but I looked it up and it was accepted, so that makes me happy.”

Wallace observed a high interest in voting across campus, noting that she does not think she met anyone who wasn't planning on voting. 

Discussion

Share and discuss “Duke students reflect on voting experiences, GOTV efforts on campus” on social media.