Unlike in 2022 and 2024, UNC Charlotte students who want to vote early this fall have to leave campus to do it. The closest site is about a mile or more away, depending on where they start.
There is no early-voting site on campus this midterm season, according to the Niner Times, the student newspaper. The nearest site is the former University City Library at 301 E. W.T. Harris Blvd., which is on the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections’ official list of 25 early-voting locations.
Early voting ends at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
From campus site to off-campus walk
In both 2022 and 2024, UNC Charlotte hosted early voting in the Cone University Center, according to university announcements from 2022 and 2024.
Gerry Cohen, whose X profile lists him as a Wake County Board of Elections member and former N.C. General Assembly staffer, drew attention to the change on X on Wednesday. He wrote that the campus site “was moved 1.1 miles down a road with no sidewalks to an abandoned library,” and that student groups were encouraging classmates to take the light rail to the Uptown early-voting site instead.
At UNC Charlotte where the on-campus student union early voting site used in 2022 and 2024 was moved 1.1 miles down a road with no sidewalks to an abandoned library, the student newspaper is encouraging students instead to take the light rail from campus 10 stops to the Hal Marshall site right at a rail station ninertimes.com/news/where-unc… (other campus groups are doing likewise) pic.x.com/3qYFHrued3
— Gerry Cohen (@gercohen) October 28, 2026
University records name the Cone University Center, not the student union, as the campus voting location in those years.
Why there is no campus site this year has not been fully explained. A Board of Elections representative told WBTV that UNC Charlotte served as a polling location in 2024 but typically does not serve as one for midterms because of turnout. The university’s own 2022 announcement shows the campus did host early voting during that year’s midterm.
The walk, and the alternatives
The Niner Times describes the former library as about a two-minute drive or a 20-minute walk from campus. Cohen put the distance at 1.1 miles in one post and 1.2 miles in another. WBTV described the march as “about a mile.”
A walking route Uptown Informer generated with OpenStreetMap data, starting at the Popp Martin Student Union, came out to about 1.3 miles, mostly along Johnson Alumni Way and East W.T. Harris Boulevard. Uptown Informer has not walked the route and could not independently confirm where sidewalks are missing along it. Distances vary depending on where on campus a voter starts.
Students have other options:
- Light rail: The Niner Times recommends riding the LYNX Blue Line to the Hal Marshall Annex, 618 N. College St., Uptown. It is reachable from the 9th Street or 7th Street stations.
- Lime: UNC Charlotte’s Parking and Transportation Services is promoting the code VOTE26, good for two free 30-minute Lime e-scooter or e-bike rides from Oct. 24 through Nov. 3.
- Shuttles: Uptown Informer did not find any announced university or CATS shuttle to the polls this year.
Students march to the polls
On Oct. 28, students from about 20 campus organizations gathered at the student union around 3 p.m. and marched to the former library, WBTV reported. The line wrapped into the site’s parking lot, according to the station. The march was organized by The Greater Good, a nonprofit started by UNC Charlotte student Sawyer Hook.
“I’m not one to tell people how to vote or who to vote for, but I am one to say to vote,” Hook told WBTV. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., also came out to support the students, the station reported.
Cohen posted that “it appears 200 cast ballots” there after the march. Uptown Informer has not confirmed that number with elections officials.
and every action has an equal and opposite reaction, a large crowd marched from the closed early voting site at UNC-Charlotte 1.2 miles to the new site at the abandoned University City Library where it appears 200 cast ballots pic.x.com/APAPhBEMmX x.com/gercohen/statu…
— Gerry Cohen (@gercohen) October 28, 2026
Busiest site in the county
The University City site has been Mecklenburg’s busiest early-voting location. It led all 25 sites with 5,233 ballots through Monday, Oct. 19, according to The Charlotte Observer. It was still on top, with 12,599 ballots, as of Monday, Oct. 26, the Observer reported. The Observer says the building is now called the Atrium Health University City Conference Center.
How to vote before it’s over
- Early voting: Every Mecklenburg early-voting site is open 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, the last day, according to the Board of Elections. During early voting, you can vote at any site in the county and register on the spot.
- Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3: You have to vote at your assigned precinct, which may not be the former library. Look up your polling place with the N.C. State Board of Elections voter search. You can’t register on Election Day.
- Bring ID: An ID is required to vote, the Observer notes. In 2024, UNC Charlotte told students that physical 49er ID cards were an approved photo ID and 49er mobile IDs were not. Check the state board’s current list of accepted IDs before you go.
For everything else on the ballot, read our Election Day guide for Mecklenburg voters and our explainer on the 2026 Charlotte bonds.
