College Democrats, Students Sue State Board of Elections Over Campus Early Voting

The College Democrats of North Carolina and multiple college students have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to restore on-campus early voting sites that state and local election boards rejected, asking a judge to order the sites back in place before the primary early voting window begins Feb. 12.

The complaint, filed Jan. 27 in U.S. District Court, names the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Guilford County Board of Elections, Jackson County Board of Elections and other local election officials. Plaintiffs include students from North Carolina A&T State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Western Carolina University. The suit asks the court to block the removals and to declare the decisions unconstitutional.

Plaintiffs say the removals impose an age-based burden and disproportionately impact young and Black voters. The complaint alleges that “State and county officials brushed aside urgent warnings that their decisions would disproportionately burden young and Black voters and denigrated students who advocated for their rights.” Plaintiffs say many students lack cars and rely on public transportation, rides from friends, or walking long distances, and that campus closures have forced the College Democrats to divert resources to organizing transportation rather than voter registration and outreach.

Election officials and board leaders have defended the choices as consistent with routine planning. Guilford County elections board members told the state board that the plan without campus sites “was largely consistent with plans for midterm primaries from 2010 through 2022.” State Board Chair Francis De Luca was quoted saying he “doesn’t like campus voting locations because it’s hard to find parking.” State Board spokesman Pat Gannon declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying, “Our policy is not to comment on pending litigation.” Board composition figures into the dispute, with reported 3-2 Republican majorities on the state and some local boards, and Republican members outvoting Democrats on the campus-site decisions.

The procedural fight has moved quickly. The state board considered competing county early-voting plans at a Jan. 13 meeting after 12 county boards failed to reach unanimous decisions; the state sided with the majority decisions in Guilford and Jackson counties. At a Feb. 5 hearing, U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen pressed plaintiffs’ lawyers on whether campus locations could be opened on short notice and said he would issue an order by the weekend to give the losing side time to appeal.

For Alamance County, the practical changes are immediate. An on-campus site at Elon University was rejected, and county early-voting locations for this primary will be Graham Recreation Center, Kernodle Senior Center in Burlington, and the Mebane Arts and Community Center. That shift will require students who had counted on on-campus access to travel off campus during the Feb. 12-28 early voting window.

The case will determine whether on-campus locations are restored and will test competing views on accessibility, logistics and precedent. Readers should watch for the judge’s forthcoming order and any appeals, and plan travel to the Alamance County polling sites named for the primary period.