Today: Mar 29, 2024

Students encouraged to vote

Edward RudmanSports Writer

With the 2020 presidential election nearing closer by the day, athletics hosted a voter registration event outside of the Moore Field House on Monday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and have another event planned for Oct. 26.

“It’s important to get out and vote. You know, if anyone wants to see change in the world, the election is where it starts,” said Jay Turiano, assistant coordinator of Athletics Facilities. “We wanted to set the event up for the students and if anyone isn’t registered to vote, they can come here, and we can easily register them to vote.”

The event was hosted by athletics, but any student could show up and get registered to vote. The Northeast 10 conference asked all the schools within the NE10 to host a voting registration event and Southern happily obliged, according to Turiano.

To register, students went to the table that was set up outside of the field house and staffed by Turiano. They filled out the registration forms and the university takes care of the rest.

“People, despite of all the issues going on, should be telling young people to get out and vote. It’s like young people are taken out of the equation sometimes. I think exercising the right to vote should’ve been emphasized even earlier,” said wide receiver Kwadir Delgado-Mcintyre, a graduate student and member of the Owls’ football team.

Traditionally, college students are among the lowest of age groups when it comes to voter turnout although recently, university students turnout has increased.

The number of students that voted in the 2018 midterm elections increased from 19 percent in 2014 to 40 percent, according to the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University.

A total of 7.5 million college students voted during back in the 2018 midterm elections.

Voting rates were similar across different types of institutions; the highest rate was 42 percent at private doctoral universities and the lowest being 37.8 percent at public two-year colleges. The research conducted by Tufts also found that the voting rates of all ethnic groups was increased across the board, with black female students voting at the highest rate of 43.3 percent.

This increase in voter turnout from university students is no coincidence, as colleges have started to emphasize the importance of civic learning and community engagement by students, according to Forbes.

“I think Southern hosting the event is huge because it really opens the door for people who may not know how to register or may not have the resources to do so. I think it’s really great that we’re doing that,” said quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky, a sophomore.

Turiano emphasized that the current students are a part of the next generation that will eventually end up leading the country in the future, which is why its important to get out and become politically involved now.

“I think it’s very important to get out and vote because our generation is the generation who is just now starting to be on the doorstep of political activity and run things in our country,” Ostrowsky said. “I think that for our voices to be heard, voting is the best way to do it. Everyone that has the ability and the opportunity to vote, should vote.”

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