North Carolina Voter Education Success Story
How the North Carolina State Board of Elections successfully navigated new Voter ID requirements and Hurricane Helene's impact through strategic communication and targeted outreach.
The Perfect Storm of Electoral Challenges
The North Carolina State Board of Elections faced unprecedented dual challenges during the critical 2023-2024 election cycle. New Voter ID regulations needed implementation while Hurricane Helene displaced thousands of potential voters in western North Carolina.
The NCSBE required a nimble, comprehensive response to ensure all eligible voters could exercise their democratic rights. This meant educating voters about technical ID requirements while providing practical voting solutions for citizens facing extraordinary circumstances—all while maintaining strict nonpartisanship across all 100 counties.
Targeted Approach for Maximum Impact
Walk West implemented a comprehensive, multi-channel digital marketing strategy designed to maximize reach while maintaining targeting precision. The approach leveraged various complementary channels and innovative data solutions to overcome the limitations of traditional first-party targeting.
Traditional Outreach
To ensure that Walk West communicated with everyone, both online and offline, a traditional outreach to historical outlets was implemented to ensure as many voters were reached as possible regardless of access to technology.
- Television and radio public service announcements
- Newspaper advertisements in statewide and local publications
- Community seminars and direct engagement
Digital Communications
The digital component was geared more towards conversion-based approaches to marketing in order to cover a larger breadth of the overall audience.
- Social media campaigns across multiple platforms
- Targeted digital advertising based on geographic and demographic data
- Mobile information centers
Outcomes On The Election
The North Carolina State Board of Elections' 2024 voter education initiative exemplifies successful public engagement under extraordinary circumstances. Through the "Bring It! Your ID. Your Vote." campaign, they achieved comprehensive voter education while maintaining democratic access.
Remarkable Voter ID Compliance
The campaign's most telling success metric was the extremely low percentage of votes not counted due to ID issues. Only 0.0003% of the 7.5 million combined ballots cast were affected by ID problems.
This exceptional compliance rate indicates that voters were well-informed about the requirements and their options for compliance, demonstrating the effectiveness of the comprehensive education strategy.
Hurricane Helene Response Success
Despite significant disruption caused by Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina demonstrated higher voter turnout than the rest of the state during both early voting and Election Day.
This outcome shows emergency voting and targeted messages helped displaced residents access voting, keeping democracy accessible despite challenges.
Impressions Statewide
Comprehensive reach across all communication channels
Of 7.5 million combined ballots cast
County Coverage
All North Carolina counties reached