A Master Guide to Voting in North Carolina
Alexandra Gore | February 1, 2024
North Carolina (N.C.) will hold its primary election on March 5, 2024. In-person early voting begins on Feb. 15 and ends on March 2. Considering new voting requirements and the large percentage of Warren Wilson College’s (WWC) out-of-state students, the process may be tricky but it is not impossible.
Primaries are elections that decide which candidates from each political party will advance to the general election. Voters may only vote in one party’s primary. For example, someone who may choose to vote in the Democratic primary may only pick from the pool of Democratic candidates. You must be registered to vote at least 25 days before an election.
For in-state students, registering to vote may take just a few minutes and can be done online at the DMV or by mail. To participate in local elections — Buncombe County in WWC’s case – N.C. residents must update their voter registration to reflect their campus address. This can be done on the site linked above.
A list of each WWC dorm and its respective street address can be found here.
Recently, the North Carolina State Board of Elections has begun requiring photo identification to vote. A driver’s license is the most common and easiest form of identification, but those who do not have one can get one for free from their county board of elections or provide a passport.
The N.C. Board of Elections has approved WWC student IDs to be used as identification when voting. Students, both in-state and out-of-state, may use their student IDs as photo identification.
Out-of-state students have dual residency, both at their home address and campus address. However, you may only vote in one state. Whether you choose to vote in your home state or N.C. is up to you.
If you are an out-of-state WWC student who wishes to vote in N.C., this is good news, but there are a few more steps that are necessary to take before casting a vote.
First, you must register to vote in N.C.. You may do this at any early voting site during the early voting period. You must provide proof of N.C. residence, which must reflect your campus address. For students living on-campus, the easiest proof to acquire is a document from the educational institution with the student’s name and on-campus housing address.
WWC residents’ polling places vary depending on which side of the pedestrian bridge their dorm sits.
Students who live on the side of central campus (Vining and Sunderland) are in voting precinct 66.1. Their polling place on election day is Bee Tree Fire Department.
Those who live on the chapel/DeVries side of campus are in voting precinct 65.1. Their polling place is WD Williams Elementary.
Those who wish to vote early or out-of-state students who need to register at an early voting site can do so at any site and are not limited to their polling places. A list of early voting locations can be found here.
In summary:
If you are an in-state student:
Register to vote or change your residential address at the N.C. DMV site.
Ensure that you have a valid N.C. driver’s license or WWC student ID card and bring it to the polls with you.
Vote!
If you are an out-of-state student:
Choose which state you want to vote in — you can vote with an absentee ballot in your home state or use your campus address to register in N.C..
Go to an early voting site with proof of N.C. residence. The easiest proof to acquire is a document from the educational institution with the student’s name and on-campus housing address.
Vote!
WWC students can access WWC’s Voter Information & Resources page on MyWWC for further information.
"Vote!" by kgroovy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
