RALEIGH, N.C. — More than a dozen energized voters marched through Raleigh to cast their ballot early on Sunday.

  • The Raleigh-Apex NAACP's Souls to the Polls march started at Shaw U, then to the Chavis Community Center
  • The Chavis Community Center is one of 10 early voting locations in Wake County
  • The march is a tradition for the organization on the first Sunday of early voting every year

The Raleigh-Apex NAACP's Souls to the Polls march started at Shaw University, then traveled down Martin Luther King Boulevard to the Chavis Community Center in southeast Raleigh.

The Chavis Community Center is one of 10 early voting locations in Wake County.

"This is where we go ahead and put all of that protesting and all of those demonstrations into action," said Raleigh-Apex NAACP vice president Gerald Givens, Jr. "Voting is what matters. Voting is a symbolization of hope."

The march is a tradition for the organization on the first Sunday of early voting every year. Givens says that's because many of the obstacles voters may face on Election Day aren't around during early weekend voting.

"Sometimes there are long lines. Last year there were people standing in line for 2 or 3 hours," said Givens. "That's something we want to prevent. If you can get out here and we have those days we can get out here and vote early, we should vote early and take advantage of that."

Early voting in North Carolina runs until November 3.