Granville County Keeps South Branch Library Early Voting Site, Loses Oxford Public Works Site
The North Carolina State Board of Elections took away Granville County’s most popular early voting site in downtown Oxford on Thursday night, making it harder for people in the majority-Black city to vote early in the upcoming election.
“ So now my question is, if they've said clearly that that area is heavily populated with Black and brown individuals, how can we say it does not disproportionately impact them?” said Democratic state board member Jeff Carmon, who cited state law that the placement of early voting sites should not disproportionately impact voters of any party or race.
Granville’s early voting plan has been a point of contention for months as members of the Republican-majority Granville County Board of Elections have struggled to articulate a reason for moving popular early voting sites from denser, diverse areas to other area the county. That is especially true for the Public Works site in downtown Oxford.
Despite the protests of the two Democratic members of the county elections board at the state board hearing, the GOP-majority state board largely agreed with the local GOP’s plan, with one exception: they agreed to keep an early voting site at South Branch Library, which is also in a more populated, diverse area. Republican member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV called keeping that site a “compromise.”
The Granville election board’s "majority plan" was viewed suspiciously by many in the community from the beginning because the board’s former chairman, Larue Ulshafer, said he had met with Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek to discuss it. As of this year, the Auditor’s office now houses the State Board of Elections. At one hearing, Ulshafer called Boliek “the boss” who had outlined a plan “[that] we’re working towards.”
Ulshafer resigned in the days after that meeting.
On Thursday, the state board voted to adopt the plan 4-1. Democrat Siobhan O’Duffy Millen joined the board’s three Republicans in the decision because, she said: “I'm gonna vote aye reluctantly because I think half a baby is better than none.”
That leaves Granville County with four early voting sites:
- Tar River Elementary in Franklinton
- Granville County Expo Center five miles outside of Oxford
- South Branch Regional Library
- Stovall Public Library
