GREENSBORO, N.C. — Students at North Carolina A&T State University walked from campus to cast ballots in Greensboro on Thursday, their second such trip this month, this time with a drumline out front and a few famous faces in the crowd.
The day opened with a Party at the Polls gathering on the lawn of the Dudley Memorial Building, where speakers fired up the crowd before the march set off. Students then followed the A&T drumline along Murrow Boulevard toward their polling place. Actress and producer Marsai Martin spoke to the students and walked with them, as did Love Island winner Trinity Tatum. Retired Gen. Charles Bolden waved to the students gathered on the lawn.
Campus student groups organized the event with When We All Vote, a political advocacy organization that promotes voter turnout.
The marches grew out of a fight over early voting locations. In July the State Board of Elections decided against putting early voting sites on the A&T and UNC Greensboro campuses for the midterm election. Board members cited low turnout at those sites in the past, while students argued the decision makes voting harder for classmates without a car and weakens Black and young voters.
Last week Aggies marched alongside UNCG and Bennett College students to the Union Square early voting site, a trip of roughly 40 minutes from their schools. On Wednesday, students at Winston-Salem State University staged their own walk to vote.
Students have pressed for years to get voting sites placed on their campuses, and the push has carried into this fall’s midterm election.
Section: More Greensboro NC politics news
Filed under: Greensboro NC Politics News
