Voting is crucial as the local and national elections loom in the coming months. College student’s votes are highly needed as they can shift the election in various directions.
Many college students have questions about voting, whether people need to learn how to register, who’s on the ballot, or how to vote in general.
After receiving a well-fought on-campus voting site, students now have to fight to keep what they have worked hard for.
Where to vote?
Students can practice their right to vote and register by bringing their Aggie One card and going to the Dudley Building on campus.
In Dec. of 2023, students protested and emailed counsel members of Greensboro to keep the voting location on campus, after threats of removing the only on-campus site. Now that it is present, there is a need for more voters to come and vote
Voting takes place from 7:30 am until 7:30 pm. Although we have the resources and on-campus location, unfortunately, according to Sharon Alston, a judge at the Dudley building voting site, the turnout has been extremely low. She explained how more people should be taking advantage of the location and using their right to vote because if not, the on-campus polls won’t be open for the national election.
“If there’s 13,000 students on campus, 10,000 of them need to come vote because if no one comes over here to vote, especially the students who wanted this location, it will close this year,” said Alston.
How to register to vote
You can vote at the Dudley building, your local election office, online, or by mail.
For in and out of state students you can fill out the register form at the Dudley building, make sure to bring a form of identification or your driver’s license. There are many people there to assist and make sure that you are registered to vote.
Research the candidates
A lot of the time people may not vote because voting can be overwhelming especially for first timers, but researching the candidates running can be the first step.
Finding a representative that aligns with your views is important and some people may not vote because they don’t know who’s running in general.
Jordan Sampson, a senior mass production student explained how a challenge for him when voting is being properly educated on all the candidates.
“I’ll say my challenge is not doing proper research on on who I’m voting for,” said Sampson. “Growing up that’s not how my parents really [voted].”
On campus organizations such as Political Science Society, Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have had events around campus to educate students on local and national candidates.
Why vote?
Voting is your civic duty as a citizen and a right that many people have fought hard for you to be able to have, so making sure that you have researched the candidates for local and national elections is imperative. The Dudley building will close down after this year if there is not a turn out this year.
Supervisor John Morant explained that each day there are about 10-15 people who come in daily to vote out of the student population of over 13,000.
He conveyed his passion for voting and stressed the importance of voting and how it can strip you of your rights.
“If you don’t vote you don’t exercise your rights and you’re not going to benefit if you don’t, and all of the [outcomes] that we get if we don’t vote are going to be more negative than positive,” said Morant.
Voting is very crucial for the future of America and exercising your rights is a step in the right direction.
