Why Campus Voting Sites Matter: The Case of Western Carolina University
More than 76,000 votes have been cast at the Western Carolina University early voting site over nine elections. There is the possibility that it might be eliminated. Here's why that matters.
In Summer 2016, the Jackson County Board of Elections, under a Republican majority,1 approved a new early voting2 plan that placed an early voting site on the Western Carolina University (WCU) campus in Cullowhee.
Two weeks ago, the Jackson County Board of Elections indicated that they are considering eliminating this site and will take a vote on the 2026 primary early voting plan on Tuesday, December 9th.3
To learn more about the potential effects of such a change, I decided to see what the data and empirical literature can tell us about the performance of the WCU early voting site and what might happen if it is eliminated.4
Brief Background
The WCU site has served more than 76,000 voters over five general elections and four primaries. Only three other campus sites have operated in each of those nine elections.5 Since its inception the site has been in the multipurpose room of the campus University Center. The University provides the room, IT support, overhead, and dedicated parking spaces. WCU also rekeys the room so only Board of Elections officials have access.
This consistent placement of a college student voting site would be important anywhere, but particularly in Jackson County, where 17 percent of registered voters in the county are below the age of 26. Statewide, only Watauga County has a larger proportion of young registered voters.
What Do We Know About its Effectiveness?
The Western Carolina University early voting site serves a steady number of voters in every election—and the voters it serves are more diverse and younger than the average Jackson County voter. The Western Carolina University site has served an average of 8,417 early voters per election. These voters are—in every election—younger than early voters at all other sites in Jackson County (an average age of 32, as compared to 50 for early voters in the county at large). In the 2024 general election, the WCU site served the second youngest average voters of any site in the state.6 In the 2024 primary election, the average age of the people who voted at the WCU campus was the youngest of any early voting site in the state.7
People who vote at WCU are also more diverse than early voters in the county at large. Among Jackson County early voting sites, only Qualla (located on the EBCI Boundary) serves a higher number of non-white early voters. The WCU site also exceeds every other Jackson county site in terms of serving African American voters. In the 2024 general election, for example, the WCU site served more African American voters than every other early voting site in the county combined.
The Western Carolina University site increased youth early voting turnout. To understand the impact of the WCU site on voter turnout, I computed the percent of the Jackson County early voting electorate that was 18-25 years old in the nine elections beginning with the 2008 General election through the 2024 general election and then computed the same metric for the other 99 counties.
By comparing Jackson County and rest of the state youth early voting share both before and after the WCU site was established, we can see whether the site served its purpose in increasing youth access to the ballot box.
The figure below shows the results of this investigation for midterm elections—the primary elections are depicted on the left and the general elections on the right. The purple line indicates Jackson County and the black dashed line is the rest of the state. The vertical line indicates the creation of the WCU site so you can easily compare before and after.
As you can see in both the left (primary midterm) and right (general election midterm) panes, young people (ages 18-25) made up about the same share of the early voting electorate in Jackson County and in the rest of the state before the WCU site was implemented. After the site was implemented, however, the youth share of the Jackson County early electorate rose dramatically, while the rest of the state rose at a much more modest rate.
The average difference between the youth share of the Jackson County county early voting electorate and the youth share of the early voting electorate in the rest of the state rose from -.28 (meaning Jackson county was below the rest of the state) before the WCU site and rose to 6 percent after the WCU site came online. This is a notable increase and a sign that the WCU site did in fact increase the youth vote in Jackson County, as intended.
The figure below shows an identical analysis for presidential election years—this time with general elections on the left and primary elections on the right.
Once again, we see a notable rise in the youth share of the electorate in Jackson County v. a much more modest rise in the rest of the state—suggesting that the site did increase youth voter engagement.
For example, the difference between the youth share of the early voting electorate in Jackson County v. the rest of the state more than doubled from before the WCU site was created to after (from a difference of 4.3 to a difference of 9.6 percentage points).
The Western Carolina University site increased same day registrations. As the table below illustrates, the early voting site at WCU had the highest proportion of same day registrations (SDRs) of any site in the state of North Carolina in eight out of the last nine elections. The sole exception to that rule was in the 2022 primary, where WCU had the second highest proportion of SDRs in the state.
This isn’t just an interesting statistic, but an incredibly important metric of success. Same day registration does more to facilitate youth voting than perhaps any other single electoral institution. One recent study found that the estimated effect of same day registration on youth turnout is between 3 and 7 percentage points—a massive effect size, when compared to other electoral reforms.
Any site that generates such a high proportion of same day registrants is performing the exact work that the State Board of Elections, the North Carolina General Assembly (who passed the law allowing SDRs), and the public asks it to do.
The Western Carolina University site did not move the county to the left. A frequent criticism of college campus voting sites is the idea that they may move the county in question in a more liberal direction. Although we cannot say how any individual voter voted—at WCU or elsewhere—there is good evidence that the electorate at WCU does not heavily favor liberal candidates, and we can say with certainty that it did not move the county leftward.8
In terms of voter registration, the modal voter at WCU is not a Democrat, nor a Republican, but rather Unaffiliated. This has been true in every election since the site’s opening. In the 2024 general election,, Cullowhe
In terms of election outcomes, the WCU site coincided not with a move leftward, but rather with a move to the political right. In 2012 (the last presidential election before the WCU site), for example, Jackson County voters gave the majority of their votes for Democrats for nine of the ten Council of State seats. In 2016, Democratic victories in Jackson county were limited to 4 council of state seats and by 2024, gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein was the only Democrat who won the majority of Jackson County voters.9
What Would Happen if the Site Were Eliminated?
It is worth thinking through what would happen if the Western Carolina University site were eliminated.
As the data above make clear, we would expect, first and foremost, for youth voter turnout in Jackson County to decline and for more young people not to exercise their right to vote. Given that voting is a habitual act, and that people who vote when they are young are more likely to vote later in life, eliminating the WCU site will likely reduce voter turnout not just now, but into the future.
Although youth turnout will decrease, many people who used the WCU site would make the trek to a second site (likely the Cullowhee Recreation Center), increasing the traffic at this secondary site and causing them to find a larger room (currently they use a fairly small side room at Cullowhee the Cullowhee Recreation Center). Depending on the room selected, this could interfere with other recreation activities including, perhaps, pickleball.
If the WCU site is eliminated, we would also expect same day registrations to increase at the Cullowhee Recreation Center site. Because Same Day Registrations take more time to process than traditional voting, we would expect longer lines at the Cullowhee site to follow—increasing the time voters have to wait and decreasing trust in and legitimacy of the election system.
In addition, cost savings that could occur from eliminating the WCU site would simply be transferred to the new site. Because WCU does not charge rent or overhead costs to the Board of Elections, the vast majority of costs of running an early voting site at WCU are personnel (poll workers, precinct judges and the like). Those costs do not disappear if the WCU site is eliminated (those voters still need to be served), so the personnel would simply be paid the same rate to work at the secondary site.
Nationally, there is a a poll worker shortage and poll workers tend to be much older than the communities they serve—a regrettable and important problem that affects how people feel about the electoral process. The WCU site is a notable exception to this trend. It’s not rocket science why this would be this case—it’s easier to recruit younger people to work the polls if they can walk from their dorm in between classes. If the WCU is eliminated, the Jackson County Board of Elections will likely have more trouble recruiting younger poll workers, which would, in turn, reduce trust in elections.
Zooming Out
Although the specifics reviewed above are local to Jackson County, the example of WCUs site holds important implications for college student and voting more in North Carolina and beyond.
In any given election, eliminating or changing early voting sites reduces voter turnout—particularly for those who live farther from the new polling place. This effect holds for Democrats, Republicans and independents. It holds for older people, and for younger people.
Reducing early voting sites on college campuses has predictable effects—and effects that run counter to building a robust democracy.
For around a hundred years, the party of the Governor controlled the majority on county election boards. In 2016, Republican Pat McCrory was Governor of North Carolina, therefore there were three Republicans (including the chair) and two Democrats on the Jackson County Board of Elections. Beginning in 2025, the majority on the board aligns with the Auditor. Jackson County is one of only two counties in the state that has four of five new members in 2025.
At that point “early voting” was called “one-stop” but I use “early voting” moniker here for consistency and because most people don’t have a clue what “one-stop” means.
It is important to note that the process of carefully considering and approving early voting sites is part of each county board’s responsibility. If the county board of elections votes unanimously for an early voting plan, it becomes law. If the vote is “non-unanimous” (e.g. if there is a single no vote), it will go to the North Carolina State Board of Elections for a final determination.
I do not speak for the university; all analysis and conclusions that follow are based on my expertise as a scholar of elections and state politics.
Appalachian State, NC Central, and UNC-Chapel Hill are the others
The average voter at the Appalachian State University site was 28.3; the average voter at the WCU site was 28.5.
WCU is the only 4 year university in North Carolina in an unincorporated place, so student voting, no matter how robust, cannot change a town election (because there are none).