Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
When the five-member State Board of Elections met for its first session of 2026 on Tuesday, January 13, it was clear that the Republican majority was still intent on eliminating Sunday early voting in counties across the state, including Guilford County.
It did. By a party-line vote of 3-2, the GOP-led board voted to eliminate Sunday voting for the upcoming March primaries in counties where the issue has not been decided, and to eliminate on-campus early voting sites at NC A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Washington Terrace Park, a site known to serve Black communities in High Point, was also eliminated as an early voting site.
Students from N.C. A&T demonstrated with protest signs at the meeting, even before the controversial decision was made.
When it came to Sunday voting, it was also clear that African American voters who looked forward to what has become known over the years as “Souls to the Polls,” where Black churches would load up their church vans with congregants after service, and take them to the nearest early voting site so that they could cast their ballots en masse, were intent on protecting what they see is their right to legally vote on the day of their choosing.
But because most Black voters are Democrats, Republican lawmakers have tried to kill Sunday voting.
During the SBOE meeting on Tuesday, early voting plans for the March primaries were being reviewed when Sunday voting was raised once again. Republicans have tried to eliminate Sunday voting in the past because of its popularity in Black churches, but their efforts to stop the practice were always stymied by court orders that determined those efforts to be racially biased and unconstitutional.
Republicans, in turn, argued that poll workers deserve a day of rest, given an already mandated six-day early voting schedule. But advocates, like SBOE Board members Jeff Carmon and Sioban Miller - both Democrats - countered that the right to vote for African Americans, especially in the South, is precious, and should be maintained, especially on Sundays, if that allows Black citizens to exercise their right.
“My father, a Vietnam vet, fought for this country — and he reminded me last night, he came home to a country where he still was treated as a second-class citizen,” Carmon told his fellow board members. “So, he charged me to come in here today and fight.”
Carmon then challenged the SBOE Republican chairman.
“At our first meeting with you as chair, you stated you want to have a fair election, make voting easy and make sure the law is followed and make sure that there is trust in the election system,” Carmon told SBOE Chairman Francis De Luca. De Luca did not respond.
But fellow Republican SBOE member Stacy Eggers IV then answered Carmon, saying, “I agree with your sentiments, but we reached a different conclusion.”
The SBOE’s Democratic member, Siobhan Miller, then made clear that per her personal knowledge, the public has accepted Sunday voting, so why should Republicans want to end it.
“I got 222 emails just yesterday, and I’ve gotten over 1,000 in the last couple of weeks, and I didn’t hear from anyone that said we shouldn’t have more voting sites, we shouldn’t have Sundays,” Miller said. “Every single one, from people that reached out and used their First Amendment right to petition their government, wanted to keep college voting, wanted to keep Sunday voting.”
But in the end, when the vote was taken, Sunday voting was defeated.
Spectators at the SBOE meeting also knew that on-campus early voting sites would also be voted down, and they loudly let Republicans on the board hear their displeasure. They were warned by SBOE Chairman DeLuca to quiet down, but Democrat Carmon spoke up in their defense.
“I think they should be able to hold their signs up, as long as it’s not blocking someone’s view,” Carmon said. “We don’t have public comment. And they are here, and they want us to know why.”
According to the N.C. State Board of Elections website, three Republicans and two Democrats sit on the state’s five-member elections board.
The Republicans are Francis De Luca, chairman, from Wilmington. De Luca is the former president of the conservative think tank, the Civitas Institute. De Luca served in the United States Marine Corps for 30 years and retired as a colonel. He is also a former member of the State Ethics Commission.
Robert Rucho of Catawba County is a retired dentist and former state senator, having served for nearly 17 years.
Stacy “Four” Eggers IV of Boone is the managing partner of the Eggers Law Firm. Eggers became a member of the state board of elections in 2018 and was reappointed in October 2020 and May 2023. He formerly served on the Watauga County Board of Elections.
Democratic members of the state board are Jeff Carmon of Snow Hill and Siobhan O’Duffy Millen of Raleigh. Carmon is a licensed attorney who has served on the state board since 2019. O’Duffy Millen is a retired attorney who served as a chief judge in a Raleigh precinct for 13 years. She has served on the N.C. State Board of Elections since 2023.
