- Just ahead on Black Issues Forum, what happens when young people decide their voices will be heard after an on-campus early voting site was not included in Guilford County's 2026 primary early voting plan, students at North Carolina A&T State University organized and then they turned their attention to making sure students can still get to the polls.

We use their story to talk about young voters, voting access and what you need to know before casting your ballot in the 2026 midterm elections.

Coming up next, stay with us.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Welcome to Black Issues Forum.

I'm Kenia Thompson.

We often hear that our vote is our voice but what happens when exercising your vote to have your voice heard becomes more difficult than you expected.

Students at North Carolina A&T State University are wrestling with that question after an on-campus early voting site was not included in Guilford County's 2026 early voting plan.

Students organized, they attended board of election meetings, they advocated for an on-campus location and yet they didn't get the outcome they fought for.

Their story raises a question that goes far beyond one campus.

What does it take to turn your voice into political power?

Let's take a look at their story.

- Black student in America in North Carolina, primarily red state and being able to be strong enough to come up to these white people's faces and say, "Hey, you really messed up here."

And they laughed at us.

They laughed at us.

They had little side commentary about us simply because we are asking to have a polling site on our campus.

- My request is to... [talking over each other] - Have to call campus police.

- You know, if we were a different color, this would be a different outcome.

- It's unfortunate.

I don't have anything positive to say other than I'm happy that everybody came out here.

This just shows our resilience.

It shows how strong we are.

It shows how committed we are to our cause and to our people.

And I'm going to forever be devoted to my Aggies, the true Aggies.

- [Kenia] In January 2026, the North Carolina State Board of Elections approved an early voting plan for Guilford County that did not include a site on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

Students pushed back, organized, attended election board meetings, and advocated for an on-campus site.

But heading into the November midterm election, A&T still does not have an early on-campus voting location.

Now student organizers are shifting their focus from fighting for the site to making sure students know how, when, and where they can cast their ballot.

- North Carolina A&T is the largest HBCU in the nation with over 15,000 students.

And we had the largest incoming class of over 3,500 students.

Now with our university policy of students not being able to have cars in their first year, they are essentially landlocked on campus.

You know, if you don't have a polling site on campus, you now have to take an Uber or find somebody to take you to the polls.

- [Kenia] For students without cars, the debate is not simply whether an early voting location exists, it's whether they can reasonably reach it while attending classes and living on campus.

Students have been fighting for an on-campus early voting location through multiple election cycles.

- The removal actually goes back several years.

If you remember, if people remember, A&T had, the students had protested.

- This is what democracy looks like!

- A&T at that time was cut in half, or cut in two, and students didn't know where to vote.

So that was part of the history.

In Guilford County we're supposed to have voting sites that are accessible to the people.

And that removes A&T.

- When I was a freshman, I had the amazing opportunity to vote on campus, on North Carolina A&T's campus, and even that I know there was a lot of fight behind that.

In November 2023 of Shia and I's freshman year, we had to organize students to get out to the Guilford County Board of Elections to advocate for us to even have a presidential election early polling site.

- A&T Pride!

- A&T Pride!

- [Kenia] Protect Ours NC says students repeatedly appeared before county and state election boards asking that a campus location be included.

- Protect Ours was actually a hashtag that we were going to do on Instagram before the Board of Elections needed to tell people about it.

So once we found out that we couldn't use our usual social media platforms, our usual location, I was just like, "Okay, we have to make an Instagram page.

Let's take Protect Ours and just make it the Instagram page."

So we never thought it was going to be a huge coalition or a huge deal.

It was really just us trying to figure out how we were going to spread the word about the meeting.

And we went to that meeting and I think it kind of just took off from there.

We've been able to move cross-laterally with community members alike, non-profits, other universities as well.

Because it isn't just A&T that lost their polling site.

In January it was us, UNCG, Western Carolina.

You now see that NC State has had theirs removed from their regular polling site, Elizabeth City State.

So this is kind of like a multi-pronged thing that's happening across campus and I think Protect Ours NC has worked to build visibility around it so that everybody has a platform to take action in support of their universities.

- Me and Shia follow a long legacy of North Carolina A&T organizers, community activists, and this is not the first time that they've dealt with issues with gaining access to the ballot box.

- The other part of the history is that they take it back to 1960.

And A&T being a place of beginning of civil rights.

And so if they know nothing else, they know that.

And so to remove that from voting in Greensboro is significant to them.

Black people were targeted with precision in terms of where you cut them.

You know, it's just like the districts.

If you cut A&T out, how many voters do you lose?

- My parents always made sure to emphasize to me the importance of black history and the fact that black people and black communities have not always had the rights and freedoms that we currently have and that there is still quite a lot of room for that to be expanded.

And so I think a big reason why we wanted to we, Shia and I and all the students that have supported us and are a part of this movement are so passionate about making this move right now is because we want to see a better future for the students that come after us.

We want to see a future where students do not have to constantly advocate for these polling sites.

- The nuance that people don't put into the conversation, a lot of people are like, "Well, I can't roll out of bed and go and vote in the community."

Well, you're not landlocked on campus.

And that is why having an on-campus polling site is so essential to the 3,500 students who are coming to North Carolina A&T.

And for the university that's generating so much revenue for the Greensboro area, we produce millions and millions of dollars here for the Greensboro community.

And there's the money for it, there's the infrastructure for it, for us to have an on-campus polling site.

It's just a want that our government officials are lacking for that.

- Efforts to cut access is a scary effort.

It's scary for them, scary for us.

And it's scary for them because they are afraid that the pendulum will swing.

It's an effort to stop it because the pendulum is swinging.

Students make a great percentage of those people who are thinking and who are acting.

And when students move, we move.

You can see it in the civil rights, you can see it in everything else.

When students move, communities move.

- My hope is just for as a nation for us to stop talking about youth voter participation and civic engagement as a talking point that they use in campaigns, but instead really think about what infrastructure, what accessibility, and what resources look like in order to make that happen.

And that is on-campus polling sites.

That is voter education.

That is people talking to us as individuals and caring about the things that we care about and pushing those forward, not just for campaign talking points, but for what people do when they get in office.

And I think once we stop making youth participation a talking point, but instead real changes that are being made within policy, then we'll get there.

- Now that story was from the perspective of the students on campus.

They did reach out to the State Board of Elections, but did not hear back from them.

What we're also looking at in this story is what happens when young people decide they want a voice in the decisions that affect them, but they encounter barriers to being heard.

And that's where we want to continue our conversation as we prepare for the 2026 midterm election.

Joining me again today is Dr.

Jarvis Hall, Associate Professor of Political Science at North Carolina Central University, and Dr.

Jovita Lee Miller, Deputy Director of the North Carolina Black Alliance.

Thank you both for being here again.

As we come out from watching that story, we look and see that these students organized.

They went and they exercised their voices, but some will say they still didn't get what they wanted, what they asked for, what they advocated for.

What do you say to that?

- So I think one of the things that we can highlight in this is just the organizing power of those students.

So although the outcome was not what they desired, the fact that they were able to organize students, get them on one accord, everyone had shared talking points, one united message, those things are also wins, because you can take that foundation that you've now built with that particular effort and utilize that going forward for other issues or other things that may be a cause of concern for students.

And so them being able to unite in that way, and then also be able to unite with other campuses because if you hear in the audio of the video, the students were talking about them connecting with other campuses that also lost their polling site.

And so them actually building their own coalition around this issue is significant work that should not be discounted, although the outcome was not what they wished.

- Dr.

Hall, we talked about barriers a little bit in our last conversation.

When we look at polling sites being removed from campuses, is that part of the, I don't want to say strategy, but is that part of the barriers to voting?

Is that intentional when we look at voter suppression?

- Well, I'll say it.

It's a part of the strategy of voter suppression.

I mean, because young people, when young people vote, they can really make a difference in the outcome of an election.

What bothers me about what we saw, though, is that we spent so much time and effort.

You have limited resources when you're doing this.

Time, people, and money.

And you have to be able to use those resources in an efficient way.

We're fighting battles that we thought we had won already.

And we're fighting those same battles.

But what happens is that it has a tendency to mobilize people.

When you try to take something away, and especially a right, not a privilege, but a right, then it has a tendency to mobilize people, and especially young people.

- One thing that we couldn't validate because we did not get a response, the students shared, and we didn't include it in the piece because we couldn't validate it, was, you know, some were saying that it may not be a right for students to vote, that it was a luxury or a privilege for them to vote.

What do you say to responses like that when, and even hearing them say, "We would call the police," and you know, that's almost a deterrence to having them feel like they have space to have their voices just be heard?

- I mean, that's pure intimidation, is what we saw in that threat to call the police, and then if that is a valid statement, then that is a form of intimidation trying to deter students, trying to lower their energy and excitement around voting.

And so, for you know, our boards of elections to think of voting as a privilege and not a right, a fundamental right, that not only students, all of us have to exercise our right to vote, it's just completely incorrect because we have fought hard for that right to vote, and those students in that video absolutely have the right to exercise that power.

- Now, we see that they went out, they advocated, they protested, but if voices still aren't being heard in that manner, Dr.

Hall, what can voters do if they feel there's an injustice or they're not being heard?

What can folks do?

- Well, two things.

One is to get out to vote and to mobilize like they've never done before, but also the second thing is accountability and making sure that voting is the least that, I tell my students, voting is the least you can do.

That if you're going to be engaged, if you're going to be an active citizen in our democracy, then you have to make sure that your whole elected officials are accountable.

Now, in order to do that, there have to be mechanisms to make sure that students know what the issues are, know who to go to for what issues, and those kinds of things.

So the education process does not stop with the election.

There has to be some mechanism there to so that students can hold elected officials accountable.

- So to your point, someone who needs to, has full intentions of going to vote, but aren't aware of the issues, aren't aware like what is a checklist if for example, the gentleman shared that in the previous election that was his first time voting.

For many, it might be first time that they're going out to vote, but they're unsure of what they're voting for.

What's the checklist of things that they should go down to ensure that they are prepared to vote?

- Absolutely.

So beyond making sure that you're registered to vote, your registration is active and up to date because a lot of times there may be issues with your registration that you may need to double check, and so you can do that through the State Board of Elections site.

But in addition to that, making sure that you're actually doing the research on these candidates, and there's a lot of sites, there's a lot of resources that can support you in that journey, and so for example, there is a nonpartisan voter guide that tells you information about the candidates that are on the ballot, and you can find that online at ncvoter.org.

You can utilize that resource to be able to go down, see where these candidates stand on different issues.

safevoternc.org is another resource where you can find a candidate questionnaire, and it's an effort to ask the candidates, "What issues matter to you?

Where do you stand on certain issues that are of value?"

And folks can read that, use that before they go to the ballot so they can understand the names that they're seeing on that ballot, where they stood in relation to the issues that they cared about most.

- When we look at midterm elections, right, a lot of people kind of disregard that as being an important election season and look more towards the primaries, but what are some of the decisions that we make with our vote that impacts the local leaders and their role within the state and how that impacts us on a daily?

So when we look at our day-to-day, our community, what roles, what decisions, what leaders impact our day-to-day?

- Well, just to tie it to students, we urge students to register where they are because in terms of their quality of life, it's going to be impacted by people who are making decisions wherever they are at a local level, state level, as well as federal level.

And again, just understanding what the issues are, how the police protection impacts their quality of life, how infrastructure affects their quality of life, waste management affects their quality of life.

We have to be able to educate voters and especially young voters about why they need to be engaged because a lot of them say, "Why should I be a part of the political process?"

They don't talk about the issues that I'm concerned with.

We'll make them talk about the issues that you're concerned about.

- So Dr.

Miller, around voting ID, there's some confusion.

There's part of the website that says you need a voter ID or a driver's license or some sort of ID to vote.

But then it also says that you can vote with or without an ID.

So please clarify that.

- Absolutely.

And so when it's saying you can vote with or without an ID, they're talking about a provisional ballot.

And so you can cast a provisional ballot and then you'll fill out something called an ID exception form.

And so all of this will take place with in-person voting.

And so if you forgot your ID or you just don't have the acceptable form, you can still cast a ballot.

And that is the message that we want to make sure that folks understand because we have data from previous cycles where poll workers actually told voters that they couldn't vote at all, and that is inaccurate.

- Now is that form at the site, or do I need to come to the site with that form?

- No, they will provide that form for you.

- So you have to ask for it.

- Yes.

The poll workers are supposed to provide the ID exception form where you let them know I don't have an ID or I don't have the acceptable form.

- Now the amendment on the ballot, does that impact that at all?

- No, those are two separate issues.

- Those are two separate issues.

Now as it pertains to absentee voting, you must include your ID, a photocopy of your ID?

- Right, photocopy.

- Okay, so explain that process for us.

- And so you would just take a copy of your ID, put it in the absentee ballot envelope.

And so the absentee ballot, once you request it, it has a long list of directions on how to return it properly.

And so you would include that copy in that envelope.

- Dr.

Hall, you know, she mentioned in past years voters have said that they were turned away.

If a voter finds themselves being prevented in methods like this, and maybe share some other methods that folks are being prevented from voting, what do they do?

How do you handle that situation in the moment?

- Well, there's a phone number that you can call.

And I may need some help on this.

- 888-OUR-VOTE.

- 888-OUR-VOTE.

Where there's a team of lawyers that are ready to assist with issues like this.

But it would be helpful if voters knew ahead of time what their rights are as voters.

And there is information about that that is available.

What voters can do and should know about the voting process.

So we need for voters to make a plan.

To plan the date they're going to vote, the 10 people they're going to bring with them to vote, why they're going to vote, but also what happens at the polling site.

And what they should expect.

But also, what can happen if they run into challenges.

Because with many of the changes, doors have been opened that could challenge voters' right to cast a good ballot.

We just need to know those things.

We need organizations as well as other community folk to educate voters about what those things are.

- So when we have a voter who decides to sit out because they have experienced these challenges and they are frustrated and they don't feel like their voice is being heard, how much political power are they actually giving away when they do that?

- They are giving away a significant amount of political power because voter turnout and being able to participate in elections is critical because you're actually having a voice in the decision maker that you are sending to their respective office to make decisions on your behalf.

And that is a critical decision to make.

And so you're leaving power on the table when you don't participate in elections because you're essentially saying, "I'm okay with whoever is going to be my voice in whatever respective office."

And you don't want to give that level of power away willingly.

You want to be able to do all that you can to make sure that you are doing the best that you can to put forth somebody that can actually represent your values in these respective offices.

- Yeah.

Kind of bringing it full circle and going back to that youth voice and vote, some may argue that they don't stick around.

They go off and go elsewhere.

Would you say that that doesn't value their voice or their vote?

- Well, elections have consequences, and it matters who is elected as to what they do with that power that can impact your life.

Also, while you're on a college campus, we should view that as a laboratory of democracy.

This is where democracy is not born because it should be born in communities, but this is where it can flourish, where people can learn how to be political leaders and activists and changemakers.

And so then when they leave an institution, whether they have a political science degree or a physics degree, that they go out knowing that whatever field I am in that I have agency, that I can look at issues and dissect those issues and do it in a way that can best have a positive impact, not only upon myself, but in the community that I consider myself a part of.

- Yeah.

You know, we talk a lot when election season comes about, what to do during election season.

Go vote.

But in between that, we have a lot of time that happens in between election seasons.

What can a voter do between those critical points, especially if they don't feel like their voice was heard in the election season and their candidate did not get elected?

How can they still be involved in this political process?

- So there is a lot of work to be done in between elections.

So we go, we cast our ballot.

I think Dr.

Hall mentioned it, the work of accountability, making sure that elected officials are actually held accountable to the things that they promised or said that they would do on behalf of the community.

And a part of that work is co-governance.

So we encourage folks, you should be at your city council meetings.

You should be at your county commissioner meetings, because it is your responsibility to make sure that they are sticking to the agenda that they outlined when they got in office.

And so that takes work.

That takes relationship building.

Also organizing in community.

I think we get caught up on the concept of mobilization and not true organizing.

You can mobilize folks to move and shift different ways, but that doesn't mean that that is going to turn into a lasting action or a lasting engagement.

And so you want to build those relationships on the ground in between time to make sure that you have that base with you for the next cycle.

- Well, we're at the end of our time.

I thank you both again for bringing clarity and just talking about the subjects.

And I encourage viewers to vote.

Dr.

Miller, Dr.

Hall, thank you both so much for being here.

- Thank you.

- And I thank you for watching this 2026 midterm election special.

If you caught us in the middle of the show, you can find our full discussion on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum and on the PBS video app.

I'm Kenia Thompson.

I will see you next time.

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