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NC’s Shrinking Split-Ticket Voters And Encouraging Immigrant Turnout At The Polls

A roll of stickers with an American flag and the words 'I Voted' and 'Yo Vote.'
GPA Photo Archive/Flickr/CC
Numbers of split-ticket voters are shrinking in North Carolina. Plus, organizations across the state are ramping up efforts to reach out to immigrant groups and increase voter turnout.

North Carolina has a history of split-ticket voting. In 2016, the state voted in a Republican president — but put a Democrat in the governor’s seat. The same thing happened in 2004, with George W. Bush for president and Mike Easley for governor. 

But that trend may change this year, according to recent reporting by Cass Herrington, reporter and “Morning Edition” host for Blue Ridge Public Radio. She talked to one split-ticket voter who is angered by President Donald Trump’s coronavirus pandemic response and is now voting Democrat down the ballot. Other voters may be aligning more with one party or the other as ideologies have become more polarized. Host Anita Rao talks with Herrington about her reporting onsplit-ticket voters, as well as her feature on efforts to increase voter turnout among immigrant groups in North Carolina. Language, transportation and emotional barriers prevent voters from casting their ballots. Herrington shares how organizations across the state are reaching out to challenge those barriers.

Kaia Findlay is a producer for Embodied, WUNC's weekly, live talk show on health, sex and relationships. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist and the host and creator of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content.
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