How GOP Election Boards Are Attacking College Voters

The Republican-controlled Guilford County Board of Elections in North Carolina recently denied North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University students' request for an on-campus early voting location. As a result, students like Jimmie Holton Jr., who don't have a car, had to walk 45 minutes in 85-degree heat to reach the nearest site.

This struggle is shared by many college students across the United States, who face significant barriers to voting. In nearly 20 million eligible college students nationwide, local Republican election officials are increasingly removing the few on-campus voting sites that exist. In Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio, Republican election officials have slashed voting sites at campuses with large numbers of Black and Latino students.

These students, often dismissed as politically apathetic, are actively opposing these measures. In Tarrant County, Texas, for instance, a judge recently ruled against an effort to reinstate 92 approved polling locations, which included the University of Texas at Arlington's Maverick Activities Center, a site used for voting since 2012.

At UT Arlington, nearly 43,000 students, two-thirds of whom are people of color, cast early votes in 2024. Student leaders have responded by organizing voter registration drives, early voting parties, and free transportation to polling locations. The elimination of campus voting sites is creating a "modern-day poll tax," forcing students to navigate long distances, unfamiliar voting locations, and identification hurdles that disproportionately affect young voters.