Fact check: During NC event, Kamala Harris criticizes end of HBCU polling site
Former Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris accused North Carolina election officials of limiting voting rights by nixing a polling site on the campus of a historically Black university while speaking in Charlotte on Tuesday.
The State Board of Elections’ 2026 decision means that students “are being intentionally deprived of the ability to exercise their civic duty and responsibility,” the Democrat told a crowd at Ovens Auditorium during the Charlotte stop on her book tour promoting her campaign memoir.
The board did vote earlier this year to deny a polling site on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro for the state’s March primary despite protests from students. They also rejected plans for early voting sites at Elon University, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina University.
At the time, the Raleigh News & Observer reported, board members cited multiple reasons for denying the sites, including cost, parking and geography. All four schools have had on-campus polling sites in the recent past, but WCU’s was the only one that had been used in the last midterm primary in 2022, according to the News & Observer.
Harris, who recently floated another run for the White House, said she met with A&T students in Greensboro during her swing through the Carolinas to discuss what happened. She compared the move to “the days of poll taxes and literacy tests.”
“It’s not new, but in this year of our Lord 2026 we’d like to hear that we don’t have that battle anymore,” she said.
What happened to North Carolina A&T’s polling site?
The fate of the polling sites at A&T, Elon, UNCG and WCU was left to the State Board of Elections because their respective county boards of elections couldn’t come to unanimous decisions on voting plans.
Dozens of A&T students attended the state board meeting deciding their fate in January, holding signs that said “Aggies vote” and “let us vote where we learn,” the News & Observer reported at the time.
But the board voted 3-2 to deny the sites, leading students to confront members. GOP Board Chair Francis De Luca threatened to call Capitol Police on the students, who left the room shortly after. The State Board of Elections and GOP State Auditor Dave Boliek flipped partisan control of election boards in 2025 to Republicans for the first time since 2016.
An A&T student went on to join peers from UNCG and WCU and the College Democrats of North Carolina in a lawsuit to restore the on-campus early voting sites, but their requests were denied by a federal judge in February, The Daily Tar Heel reported.
At Tuesday’s event, Harris said the elimination of the on-campus site made it harder for students, especially those without a car, to cast ballots. She said it’s critical to invest in helping young adults vote so they develop the habit of participating in elections.
“It’s a stage of life where we can teach people something that will be lifelong and be with them as part of their identity,” she said. Democratic election board members made similar arguments back in January.
Jackson County’s GOP Board Chair Bill Thompson said at the time college students are old enough to navigate the situation, the News & Observer reported.
“I would remind everyone that when we talk about students, we’re not talking about kindergartners who need help tying their shoes and opening their milk cartons,” he said. “We’re talking about adults who are seeking their postsecondary education. These adults have demonstrated above-average ability and mobility.”
Video showed students at A&T and WCU marched to off-campus polling sites during the primary
News & Observer reporter Kyle Ingram contributed reporting
