Woman takes midnight bus from D.C. to Durham to vote

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- One woman refused to miss her chance to vote in the 2018 midterm elections, even if it meant taking a midnight bus from D.C. to Durham to cast her ballot.

Emily Miller, 22, is a recent college graduate who moved to the nation's capital over the summer to work for a non-profit.

She registered for an absentee ballot before the deadline, but Monday night when it hadn't arrived, she made the decision to buy a $33 Megabus ticket to her hometown of Durham where she's still registered to vote.

"It's so easy for us to vote here in America, even if it is a 258 mile journey to get to your polling place like it has been for me," Miller said. "Absolutely it was worth it. Anything is worth it for our democracy."

Miller's mother, Kimberley Caulfeild, described the moment her phone rang at the dinner table.

"'Mom, I'm thinking of coming to Durham,'" Caulfeild recalled her daughter saying. "'I'm going to take the overnight bus. My absentee ballot didn't arrive. Will you pick me up at 5 a.m.?' Of course!"

With enough time for a power nap and cup of coffee, Miller was in line to vote at her assigned polling place at Southwest Elementary School on Tuesday morning.

Immediately after casting her ballot, Miller took a flight back to D.C. to get to work on time.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, if a voter moves to another state for an indefinite period of time, they're no longer eligible to vote in their previous county.

Miller said she plans to keep her voter registration in North Carolina for as long as she's able.

"North Carolina's a swing state and D.C. doesn't have the same representation opportunities," she said.