Today is National Voter Registration Day – a day on which we celebrate our most fundamental freedoms by encouraging citizens to register to vote. There is no right or duty more sacred than voting.
Usually, UNC takes a leading role in celebrating this patriotic occasion by reminding faculty, staff, and students that it’s time to register. It’s a welcome and important reminder, especially for first-time voters.
This year, the university has not mentioned it, so I’m stepping in:
First, check if you’re already registered in North Carolina by looking yourself up here. If you don’t show up at all, then you need to register for the first time! If you show up, but the address listed is no longer the address at which you live, you need to update your registration.
You can register or update your registration online at the NCDMV if you have a North Carolina driver’s license.
If you do not have a North Carolina driver’s license, you can print out this paper form and mail it to your county Board of Elections. You can look up your county Board of Elections here. Please remember to include either your NC Driver’s license number or the last 4 digits of your social security number in the application.
If you submit your voter registration online or in person, it must be completed by 5PM on October 11.
If you mail in your voter registration application, it must be received by the County BOE by 5 PM October 16.
If you miss the deadline, don’t sweat!
You can use one-stop voting to register and vote at the same time during early voting (October 17 – November 2). When voting, you will need to show an ID. You can read more about which IDs are accepted here and look up if your school ID has been approved as a valid voter ID here.
You are eligible to vote if you are a US citizen, will be 18 or older on election day, have lived at your current address in North Carolina since before October 6th of this year, and are not currently serving a felony sentence.
Theodore Nollert is a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council and a graduate of the English and Comparative Literature department at UNC Chapel Hill.