Early voting began Thursday in North Carolina. Watauga County voters gathered to cast their ballots in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of the Plemmons Student Union throughout the day.

Voting will continue in the union and other locations until Nov. 5. Voters who are not registered can still do so at their early voting site through one-stop early voting. 

Bradley Freitag, a junior psychology major, said he did not initially realize early voting had begun in the union until given a flier of candidate recommendations. 

“I figured I can vote now and just show my support for the candidates that I believe in,” Freitag said. 

Morgan Ray, a senior biology major, heard about early voting through a close friend’s text.

Ray said early voting is important to her because of a previously negative voting experience. 

“Last time I tried to vote on election day the poll workers told me I was at the wrong election spot and were unsure if my vote would be counted or not,” Ray said. 

Freitag said early voting is much more flexible since voters can efficiently vote where and when they want to during the voting period.

Before going in to vote, Freitag was “hoping to see some real change in the state.”

Ray said she hopes early voting will continue as a trend among her peers in the younger generation.

“It’s embarrassing for our generation to sit idly by and not care about anything,” Ray said.

Despite this, Ray said she felt “hopeful that people will show out and show up.”