Students and community leaders are expressing outrage after the Guilford County Board of Elections voted 3–2 to eliminate the early voting site on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University—the largest HBCU in the nation. The decision will directly impact the 2026 election cycle, a midterm year expected to produce heightened turnout due to the shifting political climate shaped during the Trump Administration.
Earlier in November, several special elections signaled what many are calling a “blue wave,” as voters across the country rejected the direction of the current administration. Much of the concern has centered on the frequent use of executive orders instead of legislative action from Congress or the Senate.
The Guilford County board, currently controlled by a Republican majority, advanced the effort despite community objection. However, because the vote was not unanimous, the proposal must now move to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, providing one remaining pathway to block the change.
At the Nov. 18 meeting of the Guilford County elections board, chair Eugene Lester called voting a privilege rather than a right.
“As citizens in this great country, we have certain rights and privileges,” said Lester. “Rights are those things that we get automatically, like the right to be presumed innocent in a criminal trial. There’s nothing we have to do other than to be born here and enjoy the Constitution to get that right. Then there are privileges. Voting is a privilege.”
The split was strictly along party lines—Republicans Eugene Lester, Kathryn Lindley, and Peter O’Connell supported the measure, while Democrats Carolyn Bunker and Felita Donnell opposed removing the campus early voting location.
Students at NC A&T say the decision is an attempt to suppress their voices. Many argue that without the on-campus site—and without consistent access to transportation—thousands of students will face new barriers to voting.
The North Carolina Democratic Party also weighed in, posting:
“This week, Guilford County’s Board of Elections voted to remove the North Carolina A&T early voting site. Students rely on an on-campus site because many don’t have cars or flexible schedules. Students deserve more access to the vote, not less.”
Community members share similar concerns. Montica Talmadge emphasized that the decision harms more than just students:
“This is also devastating to the community around campus! I purposely go to The Historic Dudley Building to Early Vote, in the shadow of the A&T Four,” she said. “In one vote they took that away from us. The very Republican Board of Elections is trying to get rid of polling places across the South Side and East Side of Greensboro, where most of the Black, Brown, and Asian voters are located.”