As Election Day draws near, UNC’s Young Democrats and College Republicans are gearing up for what is predicted to be a close one.
Both groups joined members of their respective parties to watch the final presidential debate Monday, in which President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney discussed foreign policy.
College Republicans Chairman Garrett Jacobs said his group watched the vice presidential debate together at Spanky’s Restaurant, but Monday’s congregation was more subdued and mostly an effort to accommodate students without televisions in their residence hall rooms.
The Young Democrats joined nine other campus groups to watch the debate in the FedEx Global Education Center.
Both groups plan to send representatives to volunteer with early voting. Jacobs said the College Republicans are mostly focusing on the local races, where students are not as familiar with the candidates. He said that, by now, most people have decided if they are voting for Obama or Romney.
“We’re trying to get students involved in not just the Romney campaign but all campaigns,” he said.
Young Democrats plan to have members volunteering each day of early voting from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Young Democrats President Austin Gilmore said.
Lauren Hovis, one of the group’s vice presidents, said amid phone banking and canvassing, the group has made early voting its focus.
“We’re really trying to get students to early vote because that’s where it happened in 2008,” she said.
Gilmore added that members have been active in the Pit and canvassing students in dorms with campaign literature.
