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

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Published October 29, 2020 at 11:53 AM EDT

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.

Host Anita Rao talks with Cass Herrington, Blue Ridge Public Radio reporter and “Morning Edition” host, about North Carolina’s split-ticket and immigrant voters.

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.

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

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Kaia Findlay

Kaia Findlay is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show. Kaia grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a household filled with teachers and storytellers. In elementary school, she usually fell asleep listening to recordings of 1950s radio comedy programs. After a semester of writing for her high school newspaper, she decided she hated journalism. While pursuing her bachelor’s in environmental studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she got talked back into it. Kaia received a master’s degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, where she focused on reporting and science communication. She has published stories with Our State Magazine, Indy Week, and HuffPost. She most recently worked as the manager for a podcast on environmental sustainability and higher education. Her reporting passions include climate and the environment, health and science, food and women’s issues. When not working at WUNC, Kaia goes pebble-wrestling, takes long bike rides, and reads while hammocking.

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