Yesterday, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Southern Coalition of Social Justice, and Common Cause North Carolina, working with a coalition of other nonpartisan national and North Carolina-based voting rights and civil rights advocacy organizations, issued a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. This letter urges the State Board to adopt a plan for Guilford County that includes fair access to early voting sites for Black and other eligible voters.
On Nov. 18, the Guilford County Board of Elections, in a divided vote, adopted a plan for early voting sites for the 2026 primary elections. This plan failed to include crucial early voting sites in areas with high concentrations of Black eligible voters and with limited public transportation access like in historic Greensboro, High Point, and on the HBCU campus of North Carolina A&T. Within yesterday’s letter, the pro-democracy groups strongly urged the State Board to halt the current plan and adopt a new one, which it has the authority to do, that includes fair access to previously available early voting sites in these key areas.
The full advocacy coalition includes LDF, Common Cause North Carolina, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, ACLU of North Carolina, Black Voters Matter Fund, Campaign Legal Center, Democracy North Carolina, Forward Justice, League of Women Voters North Carolina, North Carolina Association of Educators, North Carolina Black Alliance, and North Carolina Campus Engagement.
In addition to the letter, coalition members released the following statement:
“Guilford County’s current early voting plan overlooks communities that have faced — and continue to face — barriers to early voting access. Without accessible early voting sites, many Black, student, and other voters will be disproportionately burdened or denied access to opportunities overwhelmingly supported by North Carolina voters regardless of race, age, or party affiliation: same-day voter registration, the ability to correct voter registration issues before Election Day, and the ability to vote early. Everyone has the right to fair opportunities for voting in an accessible place, regardless of who they are, where they live, or if they have access to private transportation. In the strongest terms, we firmly request that the State Board reject the current early voting plan that favors more resourced voters and instead pass a plan that provides equal opportunities for all voters to participate.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
