As North Carolina heads toward a high-stakes general election, debate over early voting sites on college campuses is intensifying, not because they are disappearing, but because closer analysis reveals that some are among the least-used and least accessible locations in their counties during primary elections.
“I think it’s important to note in the front end that we actually saw an increase in early voting sites on college campuses between the 2022 primary and the 2026 primary,” Chris Cooper, Professor of political science at Western Carolina University, told the Carolina Journal. “So it actually went up one from the last midterm primary, so it’s not as if college campus voting sites are becoming an endangered species and, in some ways, quite the opposite.”
While no two sites are created equal, Cooper conducted extensive analysis of the WCU site. If the metric of success is increasing voter turnout among younger voters, then it was very successful. While college campuses can offer cost savings and help concentrate voting near large student populations, analysts note that campuses are often designed primarily for students and staff, potentially making navigation more difficult for the broader community.
“This summer’s going to be what’s really interesting; it’s one thing to have these battles and a lawsuit in a primary,” continued Cooper. “It’s something else entirely in a general election, where there is at least the perception that there’s a partisan gain one way or the other, so I think if people thought that this seemed like an ugly battle for the primary, I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.”
According to policy experts, accessibility to the general public is one of the most important factors that county elections officials consider in a voting site.
“Election boards have to choose early voting sites that people across the county can access while conserving limited resources,” Dr. Andy Jackson, the Director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal. “Sometimes campus locations work within those limits, and sometimes they do not. That is especially true for primaries, which have lower turnout than general elections. So, campus locations that might make sense in a general election would not in a primary.”
Cooper says there is no place in the state where the discussion is solely about a college site; there are other options. The logic behind college campuses as voting sites is partly about increasing voter turnout among younger voters and partly about the concentration of people on campuses. He points out that when a high concentration of people exists anywhere, officials want a voting site closer to them. The battle is more salient at four-year universities than at community colleges because people don’t live there.
“One potential issue with campus early voting sites is accessibility for the general community,” continued Dr. Jackson. “Most campuses are designed to be exclusively for students and college personnel. Even if some parking spaces are set aside for voters, those not affiliated with the college may find access difficult.”
College campuses also tend to be more cost-efficient because boards of elections often have to pay for election sites, whereas colleges frequently incur the cost of re-keying a campus room, which is required for ballot security, according to Cooper.
While increasing voter turnout among a younger demographic is one of the primary reasons for hosting voting sites on college campuses, it is not always effective.
“It is no accident that, for example, when North Carolina State campus (NC State) hosted an early voting site in the 2024 presidential primary, it was among the least-used in Wake County, even though it is in a densely populated part of Raleigh,” concluded Jackson. “A site on the North Carolina A&T campus was the least-used in Guilford County in that same primary despite being in Greensboro.”
NC State also got an early voting site for the 2026 primary, and it is so far one of the least used sites in Wake County, despite being in Raleigh.
