Senior Lydia Cohen recently changed her voter registration from New Jersey to North Carolina. Cohen, who is planning on voting for Democratic candidates, felt it made more sense to vote in North Carolina.
“New Jersey is a consistently blue state, so I felt like my vote would have a bigger impact in North Carolina specifically,” Cohen said. “I've wanted to switch my registration since freshman year, and then especially this year, was my big motivating factor of, like, ‘OK, I have to do it.’”
Lindsay Bialecki, a coordinator for Elon Votes, has seen this in registrations.
“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in registering in North Carolina, specifically when different articles come out about how important this state is and how close this race is going to be,” Bialecki said. “It's been exciting, the amount of students who are getting involved in the community that they live in.”
According to Bob Frigo, assistant dean of campus life and director of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, in the 2020 election, almost 90% of Elon students were registered to vote and 74% cast their ballots. In the 2016 election, almost 79% of Elon students were registered to vote and 49% cast their ballots.
“I can tell you that student energy was extremely low last spring,” Frigo said. “However, the series of events that has taken place over the past few months — including debates, additions of vice-presidential running mates, assassination attempts and the addition of Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket — has significantly increased student enthusiasm coming into this fall. The overwhelming student turnout at this month’s debate watch event in the Moseley Center was a reflection of that.”
Cohen said voting is essential, particularly in a battleground state like North Carolina to her.
“I feel like there's a lot on the line and with two candidates that are so vastly different,” Cohen said. “I think it's really scary to think about the person that I am not siding with as much being back in the presidential seat. And I feel like it's really powerful to be able to vote, and being in a place where it feels like your vote really does matter is really cool, and I want to be part of that.”
Frigo also spoke on how he’s seen an uptick of student involvement in politics thanks to North Carolina’s swing state status.
“With North Carolina being a swing state, we are seeing many opportunities for individuals in our state to attend candidate rallies and be involved in the democratic process,” Frigo said. “I know a number of students who have attended events with candidates and are actively involved with their political parties. All of this is a good thing for students who may be voting for the first time.”
North Carolina is considered a swing state in the 2024 election, Trump won North Carolina by just 1.3% in 2020, and could be crucial to either campaign.
Students can visit the Kernodle Center for Civic Life located in the Moseley Center in room 232 for assistance with their voter registration and absentee ballots forms. Out of state students are also able to vote in North Carolina if they choose.
Stress over the upcoming election is also not uncommon, Bialecki said she has seen this in Elon Votes members and other students.
“A lot of these policy topics can be very personal, but also hard to understand, and so being overwhelmed, frustrated, scared, those are all very normal emotions that I'm sure a lot of your fellow students are going through, and the people at Elon Votes,” Bialecki said. “Take the second to recognize you are not in this alone. We are here for you as a campus community.”