How the Grinch is stealing our voting rights

I thought I did everything right. 

I’ve lived in North Carolina my whole life and the day I got my driver’s license, I was so excited to register to vote — a milestone that felt like a rite of passage into adulthood and civic responsibility.

Since then, I’ve stayed informed and active in my democracy. During a summer working at the General Assembly, I saw firsthand the persistent efforts to undermine voting rights in our state. I joined the Student Voting Rights Lab this year to study the impact of these policies on the youth vote. I learned their tactics, and I knew my vote was a target. 

This year, I took every precaution to ensure my vote would be counted. Mindful of the risk of putting down my dorm address on my voter registration form and not being verified, I made sure to register with my mailing address. I brought two forms of identification to the polls — my North Carolina driver’s license and my Duke ID. I voted early at Karsh to verify my registration and prevent any issues. I tracked my ballot status daily on the Board of Elections website, until I finally saw the word “ACCEPTED” appear next to my vote.

I knew the risks. I followed the rules. And yet, my vote is still being called into question. I found out my ballot was being challenged the same way one comes across an insurance scam — through an unassuming, arbitrary postcard sent by the North Carolina Republican Party. 

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Analysis by the Student Voting Rights Lab at Duke displaying challenge rate by county in North Carolina.

This postcard was sent to me and more than 60,000 other voters, whose ballots are at risk of being discounted due to State Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s challenge to overturn the election results — a candidate who has already lost in two recounts. The challenge claims I did not list the last four digits of my social security card on my registration form, that my form is “incomplete,” and that my voting rights are therefore disposable. But after reviewing my registration with the Board of Elections, I can confirm my form was filled out correctly — this challenge is completely baseless.

I'm just one of many voters at risk of disenfranchisement. The Voting Rights Lab identified 492 Duke students on the list of challenged voters. We ran voter registrations from precincts 05, 02, and 07 through the internal Duke directory, labeling Duke voters accordingly. We then cross-referenced the list of registered Duke voters in those precincts with the challenged voter list. As seen in the image below, the precincts with the highest challenge rates are concentrated around Duke, whereas other high-population precincts in the outskirts of the county experience significantly lower challenge rates.

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Analysis by the Student Voting Rights Lab at Duke.


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Analysis by the Student Voting Rights Lab at Duke.

The challenge claims these voters did not provide a North Carolina driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security number during registration. Analysis by the Voting Rights Lab reveals the challenge disproportionately targets young voters, potentially silencing progressive voices to flip the election for Griffin, who trails by 734 votes. This insidious effort exploits students’ absence during the holidays, leaving them unaware of critical mail and at risk of being disenfranchised without their knowledge.

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Data sourced from Board of Elections public voter registration records, analyzed by the Voting Rights Lab.


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Data sourced from Board of Elections public voter registration records, analyzed by the Voting Rights Lab.

Citizens with allegedly “incomplete voter registrations” should not be blamed for inconsistencies in election administration by the North Carolina Board of Elections. Missing database information often stems from discrepancies between DMV and Social Security records, such as differences in maiden and married names. The responsibility for an incomplete database lies with administrators, not voters. 

This challenge is not about election integrity — but about silencing student voters in order to flip the outcome. We cannot let them get away with this. If you see your name on the list, I encourage you to take action. Protecting our democracy is a gift we can give to ourselves and future generations. 

Katherine Gallagher is a Trinity senior and a member of the Student Voting Rights Lab at Duke.

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