CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With primary elections in North Carolina, there are many initiatives to register voters and get them to cast their ballots. But how effective are these efforts?

“Get out the vote is probably more important now than it's ever been because winning is at the margins,” said Davidson College political science professor Susan Roberts.

What You Need To Know

  •  Getting-out-the-vote efforts aim to increase turnout in elections 

  •  Being contacted by a campaign representative can raise turnout by 4%, an N.C. political science professor says

  •  Queens University of Charlotte was able to register 85% of its student population last year to vote through outreach efforts

Roberts has seen the efforts of encouraging voting and campaigning change through the years but still believes they are just as effective today.

As politicians push for voters to head to the polls, volunteers at Queens University of Charlotte have been working hard to register students and others this election season.

“We want to them just understand that voting is a powerful privilege that we have as citizens and something that we should exercise on a regular basis,” said Ladarius Thompson, director of academic community engagement at Queens University, at a voter registration event last week that the school organized with the advocacy group You Can Vote.

 

2024 North Carolina primary elections

 

Last year, the university registered 85% of its population to vote through tabling efforts.

“It helps kind of ease some of the barriers and concerns that they have. Our goal in having a pop-up shop like this was that they had a chance to interact with the community and be able to ask questions and understand that this is a power that all of us have the right to exercise,” Thompson said.

Roberts says tabling and canvassing are more effective than many think.

“We've gotten so far into big data and analytics that we think that going door to door doesn't matter. But canvassing is one of the most effective ways to get turnout," she said. "It can raise turnout by about 4% if people are contacted personally by a campaign representative."

Technology has made getting out the vote targeted and efficient than it used to be.

“One thing they've discovered now is with micro cart targeting and lots of data that can turn into not just targeted ads, but it can get you the databases so you know where to go and you know who to try to turn out, which is key,” Roberts said.

Despite the various efforts to increase voter turnout, Roberts says it largely depends on who is on the ballot.

“If voters feel a little jaded by the choice of Biden and Trump, once again, that might depress turnout," she said. "And if it depresses turnout in general, that's going to have an impact all the way down the ballot."

"And that's what's important because who controls the statehouses is probably more central than it's ever been,” Roberts said.

She says candidates are relying more on early voting and absentee voting to get them through elections than in previous elections.

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