On Thursday, Oct. 15, early voting opened up across the state of North Carolina. In Jackson County, over 4,000 votes have been cast at the county’s five polling locations, as of Oct. 19, according to BPR. At the time of publishing, approximately 900 votes have been cast at the Cullowhee location on WCU’s campus.
Early voting is underway in the 2020 election. Photo by Nate Hadley.
Poll workers at the Hines University Center have noted that the polling place on campus has been slower than usual. The lines that typically extend down the UC second floor lobby have been mostly non-existent. In the mornings, there have been some smaller lines filled with a mix of students voting before their first class and other members of the community casting their ballot before they have work, according to UC poll workers.
In hopes of encouraging people to vote, different groups have set up booths outside of the UC. The Jackson County Democrats have been set up nearly every day in front of the UC. They ask students passing by if they have voted yet and encourage them to do so.
On the first day of early voting, District 119 candidate for NC House Joe Sam Queen (D) made an appearance. Queen spoke with students and encouraged them to hit the polls. Queen said that college students were a big reason he has won in the past and he intends to hear what they have to say.
Other groups like the Student Democracy Coalition are also making efforts to increase voter turnout. The non-partisan group has been holding events like debate watches, holding programs on the UC lawn and assisting students with voter registration.
“In 2016, the polling place was only open for 10 days and this year, we have our polling place open for 15 days in total,” said Lane Perry, the faculty advisor for the SDC, in an email. “I am interested to see where our total number of voters land. That being said, the numbers for 2020 are looking strong (we have had nearly 1,000 voters), especially considering the impact that the increase of mail-in/absentee ballots has had. Mail-in/absentee ballot requests are up 10 times where they were in 2016 at this point in time and actual submitted mail-in/absentee ballots are currently twice as many as where North Carolina ended their total mail-in/absentee ballots in 2016.”
Students working with SDC on WCU campus help inform students and the community about early voting from Oct. 15 to 30 at the WCU polling place. Photo by Nate Hadley.
Perry feels that this election is actually going quite smoothly and that while daily numbers at the polls may be down, but that isn’t necessarily indicative of voting as a whole.
“The Jackson County Board of Elections and the team of WCU faculty, staff, and students who make the polling place available have done an excellent job getting every detail just right. This is important for every election, but especially so with the current global pandemic we are facing,” said Perry.
Mail-in voting has been an increasingly popular voting option this year. In the context of the global pandemic, COVID-19 cases have jumped in the past week. Students have expressed that the pandemic is a concern for them and their education. The question is if this will translate to more students voting by mail.
“I have personally helped explain the mail-in/absentee ballot process to 50 times+ the number of students I have ever done in the past 10 years across all elections. Students are interested in this opportunity and taking advantage of this opportunity as well,” said Perry.
Voting by mail also gives students the option to vote either in Cullowhee or in their hometown. Perry also has some advice for students.
“I suggest students vote where they are most comfortable voting and more likely to remember to vote. I think we might see more students voting back home via mail-in/absentee process than we have in the past, but I still see many students and have personally helped many students vote on campus in this community where they currently live, study, work, and play.”
Click here for related coverage from BPR and WCJ.
