Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
Greensboro-area college students took their fate into their own hands, on Thursday, Oct 15th, when they marched for nearly an hour-one way in record heat, to the nearest polling site and back to their respective campuses on the first day of early voting in North Carolina.
Students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Bennett College walked from their respective campuses to the downtown Union Square campus to vote early, and to protest losing on-campus polling sites. The Guilford County Board of Elections voted by a 4-1 margin in favor of removing early voting sites from both N.C. A&T and UNCG’s campuses; a decision that was approved by the Republican led N.C. Board of Elections. Students consistently attended meetings trying to convince the Guilford County Board of Elections and N.C. Board of Elections members to keep the campus sites, and it was pointed out that both universities served as sites during the 2024 election tallying 12,000 votes.
County Boards across the state have eliminated college campus polling sites. The Jackson County Board of Elections called for the elimination Western Carolina University’s (Cullowhee, Jackson County) early voting site but reinstated and moved it from the University Center to the school’s Health and Human Sciences building.
Last Thursday, students marched from UNCG, adjacent to the western side of downtown Greensboro, N.C. A&T in the east, and Bennett College in the south towards the city’s center downtown. The trek took approximately 45 minutes one-way, and the students stood in line for nearly another hour to cast their ballots. They shouted chants and held signs carrying voting rights messages along their respective routes to what many Greensboro residents deem as a “polling site of inconvenience,” Union Square, a consortium downtown Greensboro building used to train nursing and Health Sciences students from N.C.A&TSU, UNCG and Guilford Technical Community College.
Several college students addressed those gathered outside the polling site. Leyton Maluka, a member of the UNCG College Democrats, told the students that “The Guilford County Board of Elections has chosen, in a bi-partisan manner, to disrespect you. If you do nothing, you get nothing. If you play sheep…you get sheered.”
N.C. State Senator Natalie Murdock, a Greensboro native representing Durham and Chatham Counties, marched with the students and addressed the crowd. “It’s a damn shame that y’all have to go this far to vote.” She reminded them that, “You deserve to be heard,” and that, “If you didn’t have any power, they (the Board of Elections) wouldn’t have taken your polling place.”
N.C. A&T freshman Gianna Giles, an Environmental Studies major from Ocean County, N.J., heard about the loss of the polling site a few months ago and wanted to take part in the march to Union Square. Staying still was not an option for her. She said, “Not doing something is making an impact you don’t want. This generation cares.”
One of the student organizers from N.C. A&T was Kyah Creekmore, a former congressional candidate. Creekmore amplified the march using his social media. He also participated in another march the same day with N.C. A&T students, demanding justice for Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old Mississippi high school graduate who died under questionable circumstances during July Fourth weekend. Viral video of that march was confused with the march to the polls, which took place earlier the same afternoon. Creekmore took to social media to make the correction and ask those sharing the information on national platforms to do the same. The footage had been shared by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), independent journalist Aaron Parnas, as well as shown on broadcast outlet MSNOW among others.
Reyna Walters-Morgan, vice chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, mentioned how challenging the march to the polling site was. “That walk was not designed for the aunties,” or for people with disabilities. “They [Board of Elections] did that on purpose.” Others brought up how the path for some became more difficult as sidewalk space ended or was obstructed.
Rev. Greg Drumwright, an At-large candidate for the Guildford County Board of Commissioners, told the crowd that, “Democracy is on the ballot. It is now time for us to (sic, make an) impact. Let’s vote.” Soon after, the rally moved to the voting line. Anderson Clayton, the nation’s youngest state Democratic Party Chair, said how proud she was on the student march. “These kids have done amazing.”
