North Carolina Republicans move to reduce Sunday and campus early voting
TheGrio...
The early voting changes could move polling sites away from college campuses and limit Sunday voting, which is often used by Black churches.
Republican officials and GOP-controlled election boards in North Carolina are moving to reduce Sunday voting and keep early voting sites off college campuses, changes advocates warn could make voting harder for Black church communities and students.
The New York Times reported that the fight over North Carolina’s early voting changes follows a 2024 law transferring election-board appointment authority from the governor to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek. After Boliek made his appointments, the state and county boards shifted from Democratic to Republican majorities, giving GOP appointees greater influence over local voting plans.
In Pasquotank County, public records show Dallas Woodhouse, then an elections liaison in Boliek’s office, texted county Republican elections chair Larry Beatty, “Drop Sunday.” Woodhouse also supported moving the county’s only 2026 general-election early voting site from the K.E. White Graduate Center at Elizabeth City State University to the smaller county elections office.
The campus site had been used during every even-numbered election year since the pandemic. Voting-rights advocates say moving it could create additional transportation barriers for students and residents who rely on the HBCU location.
A similar dispute emerged in Jackson County, where Boliek’s office opposed eliminating the Cullowhee Recreation Center site in favor of Western Carolina University’s Health and Human Sciences Building. Boliek cited accessibility, parking, construction and efficiency concerns, while a bipartisan majority of the county board supported the campus location.
Students and voting advocates said an off-campus site could require some students without cars to travel nearly two miles, adding another obstacle to casting a ballot.
Sunday voting is especially important to Black churches that organize “Souls to the Polls” drives after worship services. North Carolina has faced earlier legal challenges over voting restrictions that opponents said disproportionately burdened Black, young, elderly and low-income voters.
The county disputes are unfolding alongside Republican-backed proposals to shorten North Carolina’s 17-day early voting period. One Senate bill would reduce it to 10 days, while a House proposal would cut it to 13. Both would eliminate one Sunday of voting.
Republicans cite staffing costs and operational strain. Democrats and voting-rights groups argue that fewer days and fewer campus locations would place the greatest burden on communities that already face barriers to the ballot.