Wake citizens save Sunday voting

Wake County citizens spoke up at a recent board of elections meeting to help save Sunday voting for the 2016 primary election and preserve Chavis Community Center as an early voting site.

At the Nov. 24 meeting, Wake County Board of Elections Chairman Brian Ratledge put forward a plan that would have eliminated Sunday voting as an option for next year’s primary. And his proposed list of early voting sites omitted Chavis, which for years has been a popular polling location for African-American voters in southeast Raleigh.

Several Wake citizens spoke out against the proposal, including St. Augustine’s University student body president Henry Capers, who noted that Chavis is a convenient voting site for students at both his school and nearby Shaw University. He also explained how Sunday voting has been a valuable option for busy students.

Ultimately, the board of elections voted 2-1 to preserve both Sunday voting and Chavis Community Center as an early voting location, with Ratledge the dissenting vote.