Off to College? Register!
It's the Dog Days of August. Time to Register to Vote.
We all want to see our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and neighbors go off to college well prepared for life. The best gift we can give is to help them register and plan how to vote in November.
Right now it’s the dog days of August. To most of us, it’s a hot, sticky time of year when summer is winding slowly, uneventfully down. But for some young people, August is the doorway to thrilling new adventures, new challenges, scary beginnings. Students heading to college have a lot on their minds—roommates, textbooks, class schedules, parties. The last thing on their minds is voting.
When November rolls around, it will catch these young voters far from their polling places. Even with the wave of enthusiasm for Kamala, rare is the 18-year-old who has the remotest idea of how to go about applying for an absentee ballot. And absentee voting is getting harder in many states, with more restrictions.
There are so many variables. Should they register at their school address and vote locally? If they’re going to school in a swing state, the answer is a resounding YES. But then where do they go to vote? And how do they get there if they don’t have a car? MAKE A PLAN.
Or should they register at home and come back for a long weekend? How will that work with class schedules and sports and such? MAKE A PLAN.
Or should they apply for an absentee ballot—and how does that work, exactly? And when is the deadline for absentee applications to be mailed—not forgetting that the post office isn’t breaking any speed records these days. PLAN.
In most states, the deadline for applying for an absentee ballot is mid-October. Smack in the middle of mid-terms. Guaranteed, in the frantic season of October exams, filling out an absentee ballot form will not be the first thing on students’ minds. And then the deadline passes. By November it’s too late. How many college students will watch the election pass them by and be bitterly disappointed that their voice couldn’t be heard, because they missed a mid-October deadline?
Only 27% of young people (under 30) voted in the 2022 midterms. Based on research conducted by the Tufts University Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, lack of information about the voting process is their biggest barrier.
Young people are likelier to do something on their phones than to pick up a pen and paper. There are several good sites where you can register to vote on-line: the League of Women Voters’ Vote411.org and RocktheVote.
Unfortunately, at least in New York State, registering to vote on-line is tricky. No matter what site you start with, it takes you to NY.gov, which blithely informs you that you need to enter your NY.gov ID number. Huh? This is a number they give you when you do anything with NYS on-line, like apply for a driver’s license, but it’s not exactly a number that everyone memorizes, so you have to go through the whole process of resetting your username and password and on and on.
And then, once you’re registered, you have to go through the process of applying for an absentee ballot. Note the word “applying.” You contact the Board of Elections, ask them to mail you an application form (not a ballot, an application form, joy oh joy.) Fill it out, mail it back, and then and only then they mail you an absentee ballot. This back-and-forth mailing stuff can take weeks.
Here’s a good site for finding out how your state works the absentee ballot thing. This US government site also has info on mail-in voting, which is a whole separate thing from absentee voting.
Voting takes time, and persistence. The whole process of voting demands attention to detail and awareness of deadlines and planning ahead…qualities that few college freshmen have in abundance.
So spread the word to every mom and dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle: if you know a youngster heading off to conquer the world this August, help them get registered and create a PLAN TO VOTE before they wave goodbye.
Dear Friends,
Are you worried about the election of 2024 and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.
Every week I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.
Together, I think, we could really make a difference.
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”
--Noam Chomsky