Granville County's Proposed Early Voting Plan Makes Voting More Difficult – Especially for Black and Latino Voters
Proposed changes to early voting sites would nearly double the travel time for the average Granville County voter, based on 2024 election data. The board has the opportunity to change the plan today at 4 p.m.
Granville County’s proposed early voting plan would make it harder to vote for everyone — but especially for Black and Latino voters — according to a County Beacon analysis of 2024 election data.
As we show below, moving the early voting site from the Oxford Public Works Building, a convenient place for many of the Black and Latino residents who voted early in 2024, is a particularly puzzling move if the county’s goal is to make it easy to vote.
Background
At their June 16 meeting, the Granville County Board of Elections passed a 2026 early voting plan that would close two existing early voting sites — one in downtown Oxford and one in southwest Granville County between Butner and Creedmoor. All three cities are majority-minority. The plan calls for opening two new sites — one at the Granville County Expo Center, 5 miles south of Oxford, and one in the northern Granville town of Stovall, population 235.
The proposed changes have brought significant community pushback, and former Board Chair Larue Ulshafer resigned from the board after revealing that state auditor Dave Boliek instructed him to make these changes to Granville County’s early voting plan. The Board met on June 30 and agreed to ask the County Commissioners for funding to open a fourth site rather than close one of the existing sites. This funding was approved, so at tonight’s meeting the Board is expected to discuss whether to open a fourth site and revisit the county’s early voting plan, including locations, dates and hours for early voting.
Our Analysis
While every election is different — including who shows up — broader trends tend to hold. Our analysis of trends from the 2024 election is stark, showing that travel distances for the average voter would nearly double this year compared to 2024 if the proposed early voting sites are accepted.
Voters of all demographics are inconvenienced under the proposed plan. Black and Latino voters would go from travelling an average of 3.85 miles to their nearest early voting location to 7.14 miles, while all other voters, including white voters, would go from travelling 4.54 miles to 8.29 miles on average to cast their ballots during early voting.
Let’s take a look at one proposed change in particular — moving the Oxford early voting site from the Oxford Public Works Building five miles south to the Granville County Expo Center. In 2024, 10,025 people voted at the Oxford Public Works early voting site. Of those, 3,897 (39%) were Black or Latino, many of whom live within walking distance or a short drive of the polling site. In fact, more people live within walking distance of Oxford Public Works than all other current and proposed polling place combined.
Which leads to an unsettling realization: If you wanted to decrease turnout among poor and working-class voters in Granville County, moving the Oxford early voting site out of the city center would be a very effective tactic.
“Study after study shows that the closer someone lives to an early voting location, the more likely they are to cast a vote,” said Western North Carolina Political Science professor Chris Cooper in a recent interview with NBC news. “If they make these changes, it will have an impact.”
Granville County Board of Elections members who support the changes say they are about prioritizing safety — that the existing sites present security concerns related to traffic and proximity to a school. But both sites have been used for multiple cycles without incident, and none of the board members had concerns about the Tar River site, which is at an elementary school.
The Granville County Board of Elections will meet on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to reconsider its early voting plan. You can attend the meeting in person at the Granville County Expo Center, or watch live on YouTube
Follow County Beacon’s Facebook page for updates on the board’s decision.
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Find maps and graphics from this story here.
The Tar River early voting site (left) served 5,711 voters in 2024. Of those, 10.10% were Black or Hispanic. No changes were proposed for the Tar River site. South Branch early voting site served 9,147 voters in 2024. Of those, 27.30% were Black or Hispanic. If that site is removed, those voters would have to travel to the Expo Center (or Oxford Public Works, depending on which site the Board of Elections chooses to operate) or Tar River Elementary to vote early
Read more about this issue:
Yes it Was Approved, But it Wasn’t Easy: Funding the Fourth Early Voting Site
Granville County’s Elections Board in Turmoil After June 30th Meeting
Board of Elections Divided Over Early Voting Locations
Granville County Has Second Change To Keep Early Voting Sites Open