On Friday, June 13, 2026, the Republican-controlled Board voted to replace the longtime, centrally located Talley Student Union early voting site with the Business Services Center on Western Boulevard, roughly one mile away and across a busy four-lane highway. This creates significant barriers for thousands of NC State students, especially those with heavy class loads, limited transportation, or tight schedules.

• Talley Student Union is the thriving, beating heart of campus life at NC State, easily accessible on foot between classes, right where students live, study, and gather.
• The Business Services Center requires a long walk, bus ride, or ride-share, which many students simply don’t have time for between lectures, labs, and other responsibilities, nor do they have the money to pay for a ride share or scooter rental.
• Students without cars (a large portion of the undergraduate population) are disproportionately affected.
• Talley has a proven track record of boosting student turnout. It’s a convenient, familiar, and welcoming location that has successfully served the university community for years.
• Faculty, administrative staff, and even nearby residents unaffiliated with the university have all known and relied upon Talley as a successful early voting site since 2012, serving tens of thousands of Wake County voters, students and non-students alike, in multiple general elections and primaries.

Making voting more difficult discourages participation in our democracy, particularly among young people who are already balancing demanding academic schedules and who already historically and statistically have trouble with voter turnout. Early voting is meant to expand access, not create unnecessary obstacles.

We call on the Wake County Board of Commissioners to appropriate $200,000 of contingent funding to combat voter disenfranchisement at NC State — either to be used by the Board of Elections if they'll vote to restore the Talley Student Union as an early voting site or to be used by the county to help these students exercise their rights to vote if Republicans on the board refuse.

We call on the Wake County Board of Elections to restore Talley Student Union as an early voting site if funded.

We can't make Republicans restore early voting at Talley, but if they refuse, we can use the same funds to inform students of where they can vote and why it got changed, and then provide free transportation to help them get there.

Sign this petition and share it with fellow Wolfpack members, faculty, and Wake County voters. Together, we can make our voices heard before the next early voting period.