Greensboro students march to vote without campus early-voting sites

Students from North Carolina A&T and UNC Greensboro marched to Union Square in Greensboro to vote on Oct. 15, the first day of early voting for the November general election. Guilford County’s schedule lists no early-voting site at either campus.

WFDD reported that more than 100 students took part. TheGrio reported that students from A&T, UNC Greensboro and Bennett College joined and described the crowd as numbering in the hundreds. The reports offer different estimates; neither provides an official participant count.

County plan leaves out two campuses

The march followed a July 21 vote by the Guilford County Board of Elections on its 2026 early-voting plan. NC Newsline reported that the board voted 4-1 for a plan without sites at A&T or UNC Greensboro. Because the vote was not unanimous, the State Board of Elections had final authority over the plan. The county’s current schedule does not list either campus as an early-voting location.

The county plan kept 13 of the 15 sites used in the 2022 midterm election, moved two and added two, according to NC Newsline. The new locations included Union Square and Stokesdale Town Hall. WFDD reported that A&T and UNC Greensboro had campus early-voting sites in the 2024 general election, but not in midterm elections.

Early voting continues through Oct. 31

Union Square was the destination identified in coverage of the march. WFDD reported that it took A&T students about 45 minutes to get there. Students seeking to vote early therefore had to travel to a listed location rather than cast a ballot at either of the two campuses.

WFDD reported that student organizer Xavier Jones hoped the turnout would send a message to election officials. The outlet also reported that state and local elected officials encouraged students to vote and bring friends. Bennett College students were among those reported to have joined the march.

Guilford County’s early-voting schedule runs from Oct. 15 through Oct. 31, ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. The county schedule identifies the locations available during that period, including Union Square, but does not list sites on the A&T or UNC Greensboro campuses.