THE CASH STUFF FOR AUGUST 27, 2026

SUNDAY VOTING DITCHED IN

20 COUNTIES BY STATE GOP-LED

ELECTIONS BOARD

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In a daylong, at times contentious August 20th meeting, the NC State Board of Elections last week voted to eliminate Sunday early voting in 20 counties for this fall’s elections. Eighty other county boards voted unanimously on their early voting policies, not needing state Election Board review. The move is seen as a direct assault on “Souls to the Polls,” critics say, the traditional Southern Black church practice of taking African-American congregations to early-voting sites by church vans so that they could vote en masse.

Republicans, who hold the majority on the state Election Board and all 100 county election boards throughout the state,  have long targeted Sunday voting for elimination because of “Souls to the Polls” and the tendency of Black voters to mostly vote Democratic. In previous litigation, Republican lawmakers have admitted to seeking to stop Sunday voting  in order to hurt Black voter turnout.

On Thursday, Matt Longworth, a current Republican member of the state Election Board said, “By having Sunday voting, we are requiring people to work on the Lord's Day, and I do believe that the downfall of this country will be contingent on what we do with God.”

Republicans on the GOP-majority state Elections Board also voted against several on-campus sites throughout the state. Those board members say that in both cases there are administrative reasons why they voted to eliminate, but critics counter that Republicans did so in a effort to limit voting against their candidates. 

The state Elections Board also voted to change Saturday early voting hours at several locations, saying that doing so, like the elimination of Sunday voting, saved counties money.

These early voting changes come as the Republican-led legislature has voted to cut the early-voting period for primaries down from 17 days to just 10. GOP lawmakers have also voted to give State Auditor Dave Boliek addition powers to review elections after they’re completed, and to make it easier to challenge election results.

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 ST. AUG WILL NOT OFFER

ANY EDUCATION CLASSES

THIS FALL

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

After 158 years in the business of teaching Black students degreed courses, St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh is now a literal shell of itself, having lost its accreditation and filing for bankruptcy.

Now add one more log to the burning fire. The small, historically Black Episcopalian university, which did not conduct on-campus classes last semester, preferring instead to conduct non-degreed courses online, this fall won’t even do that.

SAU will not offer any educational classes at all this semester. The school had planned to offer eight online classes in artificial intelligence, public health and computer programming at between $1,100 and $4,500 each. But now, according to SAU, that won’t happen.

All of this is the result of a fiscal restructuring at the school after SAU announced last April it would enter a voluntary Chapter 11 process and end its legal fight to restore its permanent accreditation.

On August 20th, SAU Attorney Clara Rogers told US BankruptcyJudge David Warren that not going through with the online classes and educational programs would help reduce payroll and other expenses.

Judge Warren responded by saying SAU is “essentially closed.”

Published reports note that SAU is still considering ways to monetize its 105 acres in real estate, valued at $200 million.

        According to published reports from the May 12th bankruptcy hearing in federal court,  SAU Attorney Rogers reiterated that the school owes between $50 million to $100 million in debts to well over 300 creditors. “There are some initial thoughts that there will be some sale of real and personal property that the university does not need at this point,” Atty Rogers told the court about the early stages of a plan under consideration. “The hope is, of course, to be able to keep the core campus of the university and maybe sell some of the periphery.”

Currently, SAU is bringing in at least $10,000 per month from the rental of some of its apartment property in the neighborhood, and revenue from some other small properties owned elsewhere.

However, parts of the SAU campus are listed on the National Historic Registry, which would complicate any potential sale, Atty Rogers added.

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