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Applause gave way to shouting and the removal of a voting rights advocate on Tuesday as the Guilford County Board of Elections advanced an early voting plan that excludes polling locations at N.C. A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The board voted 4-1 during its July 21 meeting to submit a 17-site early voting plan for the November 3 General Election to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Because the vote was not unanimous, the state board will determine Guilford County’s final early voting plan.
Democratic member Felita Donnell joined Republican board members Eugene Lester, Kathryn Lindley and Peter O’Connell in supporting the proposal. Democrat Carolyn Bunker cast the only opposing vote, arguing that the plan should include locations at N.C. A&T and UNCG.
“Two additional sites would make voting much easier for a large segment of our younger population, and we do have a lot of interest in adding these two sites,” Bunker said.
Her remarks drew sustained applause from students and voting rights advocates gathered inside the county commissioners’ chambers. Lester, the board chair, struck his gavel in an attempt to gain control of the meeting, stating,
“This is a business meeting. This is not a concert. This is not a political rally.”
The rebuke prompted audible reactions from the audience. Philip Page, a local videographer and voting rights advocate, shouted at Lester from the crowd.
“This is a racist act you’re doing,” Page said. “You can’t do this. You are a liar, and you cheated. You cheated these students.”
Security officers then escorted Page from the chambers.
The confrontation reflected months of mounting frustration among students and voting rights groups that have attended county and state elections board meetings, held demonstrations and repeatedly called for the restoration of early voting sites at the two Greensboro universities.
Advocates asked the board to model the 2026 plan after the 2024 presidential election schedule, which included locations at both N.C. A&T and UNCG. Board members instead used Guilford County’s 2022 midterm election plan as the foundation for the proposal.
Under the plan, early voting would run from Oct. 15 through Oct. 31, with all 17 locations following the same schedule. Sites would generally operate from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays.
Weekend voting would be available Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sites would also open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, the final day of early voting, as required by state law.
The proposal relocates two locations used in 2022. The Griffin Recreation Center site would move to Jamestown Town Hall, while the Pleasant Garden Town Hall site would move to the Pleasant Garden Community Center.
The plan also adds Stokesdale Town Hall and Union Square Campus in downtown Greensboro. Lindley proposed the Stokesdale location, while Donnell proposed Union Square, an educational partnership involving N.C. A&T, UNCG, Guilford Technical Community College and Cone Health. The proposal does not include a voting site on any of the three college campuses.
Donnell characterized Union Square as a compromise that would provide one location for students from multiple institutions while helping the board reach an agreement locally.
“We don’t want the state to get to dictate what Guilford County does,” Donnell said.
She told students that she did not believe enough board support existed to approve separate locations at N.C. A&T and UNCG.
“You know you’re not going to get these college campuses, right?” Donnell said. “So why not get a building that they both can use and students can all vote together? To me, that was a compromise.”
Donnell also expressed concern that rejecting the majority proposal could leave the county vulnerable to losing other early voting locations when the State Board of Elections reviews the competing plans.
“What scares me the most is that these sites may be taken away in November,” she said. “So, this is bigger than anybody can realize.”
Her explanation did little to ease the concerns of student organizers, who confronted Donnell after the meeting and rejected the notion that Union Square provides comparable access.
Kema Leonard, president of the Young Democrats of Guilford County pointed out that Union Square is a 31-minute walk from UNCG and a 38-minute walk from N.C. A&T. He argued that the location presents many of the same transportation barriers students have raised throughout the debate.
“That is the same distance from the courthouse location that’s already approved,” said Leonard. “That compromise didn’t do anything for anybody.”
Leonard said advocacy groups will now work to raise money for shuttles between the campuses and early voting locations — an expense and logistical burden students believe should not be necessary for them to exercise their right to vote.
N.C. A&T senior Naomi Oliver said students have repeatedly been forced to defend access to a campus voting location.
“We’ve been fighting this battle for the past three to five years,” said Oliver, a liberal studies and pre-law major. “Why are we still having to fight this battle? We’re just asking for them to stop silencing our vote.”
N.C. A&T enrolls more than 15,000 students, while UNCG has more than 18,000. During the 2024 presidential election, the early voting location at N.C. A&T served 6,799 voters, while the UNCG site served 6,482. According to past data, one in four Guilford County voters between the ages of 18 and 25 cast a ballot at one of the two campus locations.
Bunker said she plans to submit a separate minority proposal to the State Board of Elections. Her plan would add locations at N.C. A&T and UNCG and remove the Stokesdale location included in the board’s majority proposal.
“I will not be asking for Union Square Campus,” Bunker said. “It is not closer to the colleges than the courthouse. Our colleges and our young people having access to the ballot box are important.”
The non-unanimous vote also raised concerns among advocates that the State Board of Elections could modify other portions of the county’s plan, including eliminating the Barber Park location.
Not everyone opposed the proposal. Deanna De’Liberto, second vice chair of the Guilford County Republican Party, said the plan balanced competing requests for more and fewer early voting locations.
“I think it was a good compromise,” De’Liberto said. “We would have liked fewer sites, but I think Union Square Campus takes care of the students, and Stokesdale, which is northern Guilford County, and hopefully voters will benefit from that.”
Before the meeting, students and voting rights advocates rallied outside the Guilford County Courthouse, carrying signs and repeating their demand for polling locations directly on the two campuses.
Jaelle Garvin, an incoming N.C. A&T freshman, said concerns about historically low youth turnout should not be used to limit voting opportunities for the students now entering college.
“Although there have been concerns in the past about students not voting, new generations of students are still coming to college and ready to become civically engaged in our community,” Garvin said.
With the local board divided and competing plans expected to be submitted, the decision over whether N.C. A&T and UNCG students will be able to vote on their campuses now rests with the State Board of Elections.
