Story by Mila Mascenik
Graphic by W.H. Hayes
For Raleigh resident Mia Babson, there is power in opting out of the two-party system by registering as an unaffiliated voter. It’s her message to representatives that she doesn’t feel represented by the two-party leadership.
A 2023 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a paralegal for a real estate firm in Raleigh, Babson said she works with many unaffiliated voters who, like her, don’t completely agree with either the Republican or Democratic Party.
“I think most people are aware of the polarization in the political sphere and can kind of understand people who registered unaffiliated,” she said.
Babson first registered as a Democrat at 18 in 2019, but following Donald Trump’s first presidency, her faith in the two-party system declined. When the opportunity to register unaffiliated arose in 2022, she took it.
With this decision, Babson became part of North Carolina’s – and the country’s – largest voter bloc. Of the state’s 7.6 million voters, nearly 3 million are registered as unaffiliated, according to a September 2024 analysis of state elections data by Carolina Demography, a non-partisan group of population scientists studying changes in North Carolina’s population.
The data show that youth voters aged 18-25 are the most likely to register unaffiliated, making up over half of the voter bloc. This large percentage reflects the growing trend in unaffiliated voter registration when looking at Carolina Demography’s analysis of voters aged 18-34 from 2016 (39%) and 2020 (43%).
Youth voters’ decision to register as unaffiliated represents the lower political engagement this voter bloc has to some degree, Steven Greene, professor of political science at NC State University, said. But as they age and gain more experience in politics, he said, it will be more likely for these voters to change their registration to Democratic or Republican.
In every presidential election throughout Babson’s life, her views have shifted further left. Although she tends to vote Democratic – she voted for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden in the last two presidential elections – the “chronic inefficiency” of the party has prevented her from changing her registration. The party’s views on issues such as immigration are too centrist for her, she said.
Greene said pure independents, a term used in political science for those truly in the middle of the political spectrum, are few and far between and less engaged in politics. The unaffiliated voter bloc is misleading, he said, because the vast majority of people who affiliate as one have a clear partisan preference. He said even strong policy preferences are intertwined into a party identity.
Leah Stone, a registered unaffiliated voter and a sophomore at UNC-CH studying political science, would rather vote off policy than party lines and often considers herself economically conservative and socially liberal, depending on the issues that are a focus during the election.
Although she voted in the Republican primary, certain Republican candidates’ views on North Carolina’s public school system were one reason she voted primarily for Democratic ones in the general local and state elections last year.
“I voted a pretty mixed ticket, which is one of my things that I’m passionately independent for,” she said.
In the 2024 presidential election, the economy, immigration and terrorism and national security were deemed the issues, in order, that were “extremely important” to Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters, a Gallup poll found. In contrast, those who were Democratic and Democratic-leaning listed democracy in the United States, the types of Supreme Court justices candidates would pick and abortion as their top three.
To Greene, one of the most notable changes among the youth vote in this election was the size of the gender gap among Gen Z. According to an August 2024 New York Times/Siena College poll done in six swing states, young women preferred Harris by 38 points while young men preferred Trump by 13 points – a gap of 51 points, larger in this age group than any other.
Preston Hill, the vice president of UNC College Republicans, said some of the hardest parts of the election cycle included pushing through the polarization, changing their messaging when Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee and reaching out to young voters on campus.
As the election neared, the club set up a table in the Pit – a popular gathering spot for students on UNC-CH’s campus – and distributed information about various campaigns. He said most of the interactions club members had during these events were with Democrat and unaffiliated voters.
Hill said an unaffiliated voter might vote for a Republican candidate because, though they may not entirely agree with the party’s platform, they are seeking a change from the party in power, in this case, the Biden administration.
“And that was, I think, the defining factor of the election, was whoever the so-called candidate for change was going to be, that was who was ultimately going to win, and I think that’s what happened,” he said.
He said he felt the Democratic Party was unsuccessful in answering youth voters’ questions about “hot-button” issues, including inflation and the war in Gaza, and that they took the youth vote for granted.
Harris won the youth vote for voters aged 18-29 at 54% over Trump, according to exit polls. However, her lead is smaller than Biden’s in 2020. He received 60% of the vote from this age group.
While reaching out to young voters required extra effort from the club, Hill said the club made notable inroads. He said the Republican Party has been successful in reaching youth voters through social media platforms, whether through podcasts, YouTube or TikTok. The club found Instagram the most effective platform for connecting with youth voters because it used the app to advertise club news; additionally, Instagram’s repost option allowed users to share content.
Kate Chapman, the UNC Young Democrats secretary, said following social media trends, like the coconut tree meme associated with Harris, was one way the UNC Young Democrats connected with youth on a personal level and took a lighthearted approach.
Like the UNC College Republicans, the Young Democrats had conversations with many unaffiliated voters. Dominique Lopez, vice president of the Young Democrats, said that most of her interactions were with college-aged males, and the economy was the top issue.
For Chapman, the election results were shocking because the club had significant traction at UNC-CH. She recognized that the university’s predominantly liberal political climate contributed to this momentum and that the populated campus made it harder to consider the issues people in rural communities faced.
Yet, Chapman felt that the Democratic Party as a whole failed to make the connection between rural and urban areas. Lopez added that the club didn’t do much door-knocking or campaigning in rural areas of the state.
“It was really important to do, and I think that we maybe overshot our capacity and what we thought we would be able to as a whole party,” Lopez said. “So it was disappointing and we were prepared for it, which is the unfortunate part.”
Despite voter outreach to rural voters being one area the club believes they could have improved on in their campaigning, Lopez is most proud of the joy that came from their work during the election, like the excited and hopeful energy during club meetings.
“Even though it didn’t turn out how we want it to, I think there’s still that hope left of ‘we could still do something from this,’ and we’re still working to make the country a better place and inclusive for everybody,” she said.
Babson would like to see a third-party candidate who is farther left ideologically than the Democratic Party and distanced from the two-party system run for president. Her ideal candidate would prioritize issues such as wealth distribution, universal healthcare and reproductive care.
But in order for the country to have more than two viable political parties, the system of elections would need to change, which Greene said is clearly not happening anytime soon.
“The reality is, it’s making choices between very imperfect political parties that do not reflect you as fully as you would like, but that’s the American system,” he said.
