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In a daylong, at times contentious August 20th meeting, the N.C. State Board of Elections last week voted to eliminate Sunday early voting in 20 counties for this fall’s elections. Eighty other county boards voted unanimously on their early voting policies, not needing state Election Board review. The move is seen as a direct assault on “Souls to the Polls,” critics say, the traditional Southern Black church practice of taking African American congregations to early voting sites by church vans so that they could vote en masse.
Republicans, who hold the majority on the state Elections Board and all 100 county elections boards throughout the state, have long targeted Sunday voting for elimination because of the success of “Souls to the Polls” and the tendency of Black voters to mostly vote Democratic. In previous litigation, Republican lawmakers have admitted to seeking to stop Sunday voting in order to hurt Black voter turnout.
On Thursday, Matt Longworth, a current Republican member of the state Elections Board said, “By having Sunday voting, we are requiring people to work on the Lord’s Day, and I do believe that the downfall of this country will be contingent on what we do with God.”
Republicans on the GOP-majority state Elections Board also voted against several on-campus sites throughout the state such as at N.C. A&T State University and UNC Greensboro. Those board members say that in both cases there are administrative reasons why they voted to eliminate, but critics counter that Republicans did so in an effort to limit voting against their candidates.
The state Elections Board also voted to change Saturday early voting hours at several locations, saying that doing so, like the elimination of Sunday voting, saved counties money.
These early voting changes come as the Republican-led legislature has voted to cut the early-voting period for primaries down from 17 days to just 10. GOP lawmakers have also voted to give State Auditor Dave Boliek additional powers to review elections after they’re completed, and to make it easier to challenge election results.
Below are the decisions made by the N.C. Board of Elections regarding early voting:
Anson County: No Saturday or Sunday voting
Rowan County: No voting first weekend of early voting period, compromise reached to add Sunday, Oct. 25
Union County: Voting on second Saturday (Oct. 24) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., no voting on second Sunday
Craven County: No Sunday voting
Rockingham County: Voting on second Saturday (Oct. 24), no voting on second Sunday (Oct. 25)
Greene County: Voting on first Saturday only, no Sunday voting
Wayne County: No Sunday voting
Harnett County: No Sunday voting
Lee County: Voting on first Sunday (Oct. 18) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Nash County: No Sunday voting
Chatham County: Voting on both Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., no Sunday voting
Scotland County: No Sunday voting
Pasquotank County – Early voting at the county Board of Elections office instead of the Kermit E. White Center, no Sunday voting
Pitt County: Added an early voting site; voting on Saturday, Oct. 17, no Sunday voting
Jackson County: Both dueling sites near Western Carolina University included in final plan
Guilford County: Early voting sites at N.C.A&TSU and UNC Greensboro not included
Columbus County: Fair Bluff early voting site restored
Cumberland County: Proposed additional early voting site in Spring Lake not added
Granville County: Creedmoor early voting site added as part of a compromise
Lenoir County: Proposed early voting site in southeastern Kinston not added.
