Guilford County Board of Elections voted 4-1 to exclude NC A&T and UNC Greensboro campus early voting sites for 2026 midterms

On July 21, 2026, the Guilford County Board of Elections voted 4-1 to adopt an early voting plan for the 2026 midterm election that excludes campus polling sites at North Carolina A&T State University and UNC Greensboro—two campuses that had early voting sites in the 2024 general election. The plan keeps 13 of the 15 sites used in the 2022 midterm elections, moves two of those, and adds two new ones: one in rural Stokesdale and one at Union Square, a collaborative educational building in downtown Greensboro about a half-hour walk from both university campuses. The total of 17 sites is two more than the county used in the 2022 midterms, but none are on university campuses. Board Democrat Carolyn Bunker was the sole dissenting vote; because the vote was not unanimous, the NC State Board of Elections will make the final determination on Guilford County's early voting sites.

NC A&T is a historically Black university. The campus saw 6,487 early voters in 2024; UNC Greensboro's campus site served 6,800. Students from both universities had attended multiple board meetings during the 2026 election cycle to request restoration of the campus sites, and a prior lawsuit challenging the board's exclusion of campus sites during the 2026 primary fell short. Board chair Eugene Lester, a Republican, had a public attendee removed from the July 21 meeting after they called out from the audience.

Guilford became the 22nd North Carolina county to produce a split early voting vote in 2026. NC Newsline separately reported that NC State Auditor Dave Boliek's office directed county election boards toward GOP-favorable early voting decisions, including opposing HBCU campus sites and cutting Sunday voting hours that support Black-church "Souls to the Polls" turnout efforts.