Western Carolina University students will have access to an early voting site with the approval of the Health and Human Sciences building as a polling location for the November midterm election.
The State Board voted Thursday, Aug. 20, to approve HHS as one of five early voting sites in Jackson County. The Cullowhee Recreation Center will also serve as an early voting location.
The decision comes after the A.K. Hinds University Center was removed as an early voting site for the 2026 primary election, moving voters to the Recreation Center.
Amanda Allen, director of the Jackson County Board of Elections, said both plans submitted to the State Board included four early voting sites. The difference depended on which location would serve Cullowhee voters.
Allen said they chose to modify the submitted plans and the modification determined we will have five early voting sites, including both of the proposed Cullowhee locations.
For students, having a voting site near campus could make voting more accessible, particularly for those without transportation.
WCU student Ibrahim Bias said voting can go under the radar when a polling place is not close to students.
“I think, for at least a lot of people in our generation, it is just a lot of out of sight, out of mind,” Bias said. “If you don’t have a polling place near you and your life is OK, you’re just not going to think about voting.”
WCU student Luke Mazze said having a voting site on campus would make voting more convenient.
“Having a voting site back on campus, I think, is a very good thing for a lot of students,” Mazze said. “It makes it a lot more convenient, so it makes it easier for people who don’t have a car or don’t have a form of transportation to get to these areas.”
Bias said the distance to polling locations during the primary election made it easier for him to put off voting.
“I saw the march to the polls, and I was just like, ‘I’ll get around to it,’ and I just never got to it,” Bias said. “But if it was back in the UC, or I guess even at the one that’s farther down the road at HHS, I definitely think it would have gotten a whole lot more students.”
The return of an on-campus voting site also has support from WCU’s student political and civic organizations.
The Student Democracy Coalition, College Democrats and College Republicans submitted a joint statement to the State Board supporting the return of an on-campus polling location. The groups said both proposed WCU locations are ADA accessible, while the HHS building offers more parking.
SDC President Karl Ferm said the organization supports having an early voting site on campus but would have preferred the University Center due to location.
“The SDC believes that an on-campus voting site is important not only to students but to the community as a whole,” Ferm said in an email. “While we would prefer the University Center to serve as a polling site due to its more centralized location, we are glad the State Board of Elections opted for the HHS building as an early voting site for the 2026 election.”
The new HHS location gives students another option to vote closer to campus while keeping the Recreation Center as a second Cullowhee location.
“Having that voting site is important for us because it makes us matter, and it makes our voices heard in these big decisions,” Mazze said. “Even if it’s not the biggest decision, it’s still something that affects us. So, it’s still important for us to have our own input.”
Election Day polling locations have not yet been determined.
As Jackson County prepares for the 2026 midterms, here are some important dates for the November election season:
- Oct. 9: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).
- Oct. 15: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
- Oct. 31: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
- Nov. 3: Election Day. Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.).
