Last Days for Early Voting in NC Primary

Early voting site at Karsh Center open through Saturday

Early voter at Karsh
First year Nicholas School of the Environment student Louisa Pitney votes in North Carolina for the very first time. Durham residents can take advantage of Duke’s early voting location to vote at Duke’s Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center. Photo by William Snead, Office of University Communications and Marketing.

The March 5 North Carolina Primary Election draws near, but Durham residents still have five more days in which to vote early and conveniently at the early voting site at Duke’s Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center.

Karsh and other early voting polling locations in Durham will be open from 8 am-7:30 pm through Friday and 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. on the last day of early voting (Saturday, March 2).

Karsh is a short walk from West Campus and ample free parking is available for voters. Students and employees who are registered to vote in Durham County are encouraged to use the on-campus early voting location. The address is 2080 Duke University Rd, Durham, NC 27708.

The ease of early voting has made it popular in recent elections, including in primaries. To date, more than 12,000 Durham residents have voted early at one of the seven early voting sites.

In addition to being on campus, early voting at the Karsh site is convenient for people who are unregistered to vote because you can register and vote on the same day during the early voting period. To learn more about what information you must bring for single-day registration and voting, visit the North Carolina Board of Elections website. Please note that single-day registration is NOT available on the March 5 election date. People who are unregistered on March 5 will not be able to cast a ballot.

Democracy Day

Join Duke Student Government for Democracy Day from 12-4 p.m. Friday, March 1, on the Bryan Center Plaza.

Programming includes:
Marches to the Polls, where student leaders and organizations guide students to the on-campus polls at Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center with food trucks across the street from Sister Liu’s and Poblanos (food vouchers will be available for all Democracy Day participants on BC Plaza)
Rock the Polls, where four a cappella groups plan to perform on the Bryan Center Plaza to raise awareness on civic engagement
Democracy Screen Printing, where students can choose from democracy-themed designs to print onto tote-bags
Nonpartisan Ballot Guide on Candidates, where students can access campaign information on the candidates via a QR code
Voter ID Pick-up, where students can pick-up their voter ID cards that were previously ordered in advance

The event is open to all members of the Duke community.

Link

Duke employees and students who live in Wake, Orange, and other counties can vote at one of the many early voting sites in their home counties. Early voting locations in counties across North Carolina can be found here.

Voting on Election Day

On Election Day, voters are assigned a polling location based on their residential address. Students living on East Campus will vote at Watts Elementary School, 700 Watts St., while West Campus residents can vote at Patterson Recreation Center, 2614 Crest St. Other Election Day polling locations can be found the state Board of Elections website.

Voter ID

North Carolina voters are now required to provide photo identification when voting in-person or by absentee ballot. Acceptable forms of ID include:

  • North Carolina driver’s license
  • State ID from the NCDMV for NC residents (also called “non-operator ID”)
  • Driver’s license or non-driver ID from another state, District of Columbia or U.S. territory (only if voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election)
  • U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport card
  • North Carolina voter photo ID card issued by a county board of elections
  • College or university student ID approved by the State Board of Elections
  • State or local government or charter school employee ID approved by the State Board of Elections

The NC Board of Elections approved Duke University’s student voter ID card as a valid form of identification when voting. The Duke student voter ID card is a physical card, separate from the DukeCard, and is provided to students for free upon request. The deadline to request a voter ID card in time for the primary elections has passed, but students can still request a card for use in future elections.

If a voter is unable to show photo ID when voting they can fill out an ID Exception Form and vote with a provisional ballot, or they can vote with a  provisional ballot and return to their county board of elections office with an approved form of photo ID before the county canvass.

Additional information on registering to vote, voting and voter ID requirements can be found on the NC Board of Elections website or the Duke Votes website.

Durham resident Kate Gupton celebrates her vote at Duke’s Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center.
Durham resident Kate Gupton celebrates her vote at Duke’s Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center. Photo by William Snead, Office of University Communications and Marketing.