College Students need more Accessibility to Voting Resources
The 2024 presidential election is the most consequential election event in the history of the United States that has been talked about and prepared for since 2020. Nearly $1billion has been spent on political ads but what happens if college students cannot vote?
According to the Education Data Initiative, 39% of Americans aged 18-24 are enrolled in college. This means that over 11 million college students will be responsible for voting in this upcoming election. Will they vote? Some say yes and others say no.
The history of voting as well as how the lack of voting among college students has evolved is a tell-tale sign of many students losing confidence in the political system while others are trying to understand why they need to vote.
“I would say there's a bigger sect of students who don’t feel strongly about voting, but I would also say there is a minority of students that want to vote,” said Liz Bartlett, senior in pre-law.
Young people born between 1996 to 2010 are classified as Generation Z. For many Gen Z-ers, this will be their time voting in the first presidential election. will be of age to vote.
Growing up in an ever-changing, and polarizing climate, Gen Z-ers are survivors of gun violence drills in middle and high school, and spending many of their college days in COVID. They want their voices to be heard.
“I think that some college students find it (voting) to be a moral duty. They find it to be a prosperous thing, a privilege that we should exercise,” says Jaden Heard, Auburn Alumni.
The economy, inflation, abortion rights and gun laws are issues many college students are passionate about and reasons they are choosing to vote.
While many students are voting in the 2024 election, there are even more who are not bot because they do not think the institution should prominently promote voting resources and accessibility on campus.
“I had to go through the Florida website to order my ballot and everything and it was a hassle. I feel like there could probably be more resources to help but I don’t feel like there’s a ton of university promotion,” Bartlett emphasized.
Between the two largest public universities in Alabama, Auburn University and the University of Alabama, one has major voter turnout and the other has very little.
The University of Alabama was recognized and given an award as a “silver campus” for having 60-69% of the student body show up to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
There is no definitive number of voters from Auburn University in the 2020 election.
"A lot of students are out of state and there's no extra day off of school to go cast your ballot, there's no way to vote and there's no voting drives or anything like that,” said Heard.
However, the local chapter of the League of Women’s Voters, Lee County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) offered students Auburn students the opportunity to register to vote to campus. The Harold Franklin Society and the Auburn University student chapters of the Democratic and Republican Parties provided public listening sessions for state-wide candidates.
“I think that giving students resources to make it easier for them to register to vote, to get their absentee ballots, to know where the polls are and when voting is going to happen are really important things that will attract a lot of students,” said Bartlett.
According to University of Alabama students say there are multiple resources on campus informing telling them about voting. “They’ve been having a bunch of tables set up all around campus for people to be able to register to vote. I’ve also seen lots of flyers in the classrooms, and they’ve been sending out weekly reminders to all students to register to vote and there are multiple places around campus to vote,” said Kate Bazzle, a senior in business at the University of Alabama.
By encouraging students to vote on campus and helping them register it brings awareness to voting. Students may not be registered and put it off until it is too late, so having people helping students register is a way to ensure that it gets done.
While the state of Alabama is a difficult place to cast an absentee ballot, out-of-state students may not need to go home to vote. One resource that is not talked about is the leniency of voter ID in Alabama.
According to the Alabama Secretary of State, a voter can use a valid student or employee ID from an institution of higher learning and post graduate technical and professional school programs in the state of Alabama.
Out of state students can go to the polls in their university towns and vote without having to mail in ballots making it easier and less time consuming.
It is important for everyone to vote, and college students should be encouraged to go out and voice their opinion. More resources need to be available for students to register and learn more about the voting process.
By: Mackenzie Parson - November 4, 2024