If you did not vote early, chances are good that either Duke Democrats or Duke College Republicans will find you.
Duke Democrats President Ben Bergmann, a sophomore, and College Republicans Chair Vikram Srinivasan, a junior, said members of their organizations will spend Election Day canvassing in Durham for their respective parties and encouraging voters to get to the polls.
Duke Democrats will offer rides every half-hour from West Campus to Durham polling stations today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polls close at 7:30 p.m.
"We've had great numbers at Duke, so our job is sort of done on campus," Bergmann said. "Most kids who registered to vote have voted."
Almost 62 percent of respondents to The Chronicle's election poll-conducted Oct. 27-30 among undergraduates eligible to vote-said they had already voted. Of these, a majority said they cast a ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama: 79.1 percent for Obama compared to 19.7 percent for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
Thanks to early voting, Srinivasan said he and other College Republicans are focusing on Raleigh and Durham Tuesday. Srinivasan said he would primarily be making phone calls for the Republicans, talking to undecided voters and establishing personal contacts to help voters get to the polls. Duke College Republicans do not have any Election Day activities planned on campus, he said.
Bergmann plans to speak with registered Democrats and Independents who have not voted and recruit volunteers for the last day of the campaign. He added that he plans to take a targeted approach toward voters because the convenience of the early voting station on campus helped so many vote already.
Duke's early voting site drew 9,361 voters before closing Saturday, according to the Durham County Government Web site.
Some students who voted early said they plan to attend on-campus Election Day events including Election Affection at the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, Duke Votes: The Election Party in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy and unofficial student watch parties. Off campus, Ben & Jerry's is offering free ice cream and Starbucks is offering a free tall coffee to customers with voting stickers.
Senior Will Bumpus, who voted early, said his plans for Election Day are low-key.
"As of now it's a plan to party, but I would be pretty upset if one candidate won over the other," he said. He added that he would not need to spend Tuesday encouraging people to vote because he urged his friends to vote early-and most of them did.
Among voters who registered in the last two years, Bergmann said he predicts turnout between 80 and 90 percent.
"I'd like to say that [the increased] turnout is just because of what we've been doing, but it's mainly because of the candidacy of Sen. [Barack] Obama. He turns people out because people are excited to cast their first vote for him," Bergmann said. "On Tuesday, ironically, I don't think there's going to be that many long lines in Durham County since so many people have already voted."
But Srinivasan said not to discount Republican voter turnout. He said North Carolina Republicans are just as excited to vote for their candidates as Democrats, citing vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin's Saturday rally in Raleigh, which he said was attended by twice as many people as expected.
"North Carolina is a fundamentally red state, and I think the undercurrent is there," Srinivasan said. "There's a lot of enthusiasm on the Republican side, but I don't think it's been fully covered in the media, and that's something to look out for on Election Day. And as far as turnout, on Election Day we are reaching out to the people that the media might not think exist but do exist, and we're reminding them to get out there and vote."
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