According to Orange County’s early voting statistics, the current election drew just under 60,000 early voters to polling stations, an increase of 9,532 voters when compared to 2012.
Tracy Reams, the director of the Orange County Board of Elections, said she’s pleased by the high voter turnout. She thinks the larger numbers are due in part to people wanting to ensure their vote is cast.
“There hasn’t really been any changes in what we have done,” Reams said. “We do offer early voting hours late in the evening in addition to Saturday hours and I think these various hours made it more convenient for the voters.”
Orange County offered five early voting locations at heavily populated centers throughout the county.
“We did not experience lines in Orange County like those that were reported by other counties,” Reams said.
Graeme Strickland, a UNC first-year and member of Young Democrats, said the club pushed early voting by handing out sample ballots, placing flyers in dorm rooms and providing a rickshaw to the Chapel of the Cross.
According to the United States Census, the voting rate of adults aged 18-24 years old dropped to 38 percent in 2012. Strickland said they’ve increased efforts to get young voters to the polls.
“There’s a huge ground effort to get out and vote, especially among millennials,” Strickland said. “That’s been the main focus – to get out the millennial vote, because it’s always so low.”
