By Aniella Nataki and Erin Krochmalny
Now is the time to have your student voice be heard with the mid-term elections coming up on Nov. 6. Here is some advice on how best to be prepared for the day.
To start, make sure you’re registered to vote. The national deadline to register is Oct. 9 and it will be the least stressful deadline you’ll have the entire quarter. Anyone can start at vote.org, a site with a simple and easy navigation system. It’s built with students’ needs in mind. It doesn’t preach or judge, it’s purely informational and gets straight to the point. A couple of clicks on a computer and some general information you should already know about yourself is all that’s needed. In-state residential students also have the option of visiting the Georgia My Voter Page site or going to their local county to fill out a form in person.
For many of us, absentee voting is how we’ll cast our vote. Absentee voting is a way out-of-state students can vote while they’re away from home. The first thing you need to do is fill out an absentee ballot application form such as those available at vote.org. Once on the site, click on the absentee tab and fill out what it asks such as your name, where you’re registered to vote and your mailing address. It will take only two minutes. Provide your temporary address which, for most on campus students, is the SCAD mail center. The form also will ask for your email so that the absentee application is sent straight to you. The process for the application may vary from state to state but we can say that if you’re from Texas or Michigan it won’t take long.
Now it’s important to note that as vote.org states “if you registered to vote by mail, you must vote in person the first time you vote. You cannot vote by absentee ballot.” Keep in mind, every state has a different deadline for when their absentee ballots applications and absentee ballots are due. But you can look up all states’ deadlines on vote.org.
In-state students should utilize the My Voter Page, while Savannah residents can go on to the Chatham County site. These sites provide important and useful information which include but are not limited to polling locations, early voting dates and the types of valid identification forms (that’s the most important part). Unlike out of state students, SCAD Atlanta and Savannah students will need to vote in-person and early voting is the best advice you’ll ever be given. First, you won’t have to wait for hours on end. Second, you’ll have contributed your part in your civic duties and can turn your full attention to your final projects.
