Photo by Megan Cole / Assistant News Editor
Today is the last day to register to vote for the upcoming elections this November. Many Tennesseans across the state have already registered and will head to the polls to select their favorite candidates. As citizens gear up, students at MTSU have a last-minute opportunity on campus to register prior to the elections on Nov. 6.
Multiple voter registration booths have been set up around campus to help encourage students to sign up to vote. By utilizing online registration, students and faculty have volunteered to register others.
Hayden Schimborski, an MTSU sophomore and journalism major, said the registration process on campus was easy and helpful. Most students, like Schimborski, just had to update a few minor details in order to confirm their registration.
“It’s not only your civic duty to vote, but it’s important to make a difference in the community,” Schimborski said. “It’s not only important for you as an individual to vote, but it picks up steam and inspires a generation that can really make a real difference.“
Mary Evins, an MTSU associate professor and American Democracy Project coordinator, helped organize the booths that were set up around campus. Evins explained why voter registration is an important topic that people should pay attention to.
“The old folks in my generation are the ones making the decisions for the country, and clearly there are issues on the table that our young people need to become passionate about,” Evins said. “They need to become motivated, and we think that this is the election that should get everybody up on their toes and committed to voting.”
Evins said that the university was partially responsible for incentivizing students to get out and vote. She said that, as professors, it’s “their job” to help educate and show students why voting is so important.
“That’s where the university’s role as an educator of the next generation of citizens comes into play,” Evins said. “Those attitudes are honestly unacceptable and if students do not recognize that every single decision that they make, every aspect of their daily lives, is governed and controlled by the political decisions that we make.”
To register to vote before the registration period ends today, visit here.
Schimborski was passionate about getting out to vote in the November elections and emphasized why others should join him.
“Yes, I’m going to vote,” Schimborski said. “It’s important for everyone to get out and vote, and if you’re not, shame on you.”
To contact News Editor Caleb Revill, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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