By The Editorial Board
Election Day is just around the corner, and as college students, it can be challenging to find a convenient location to turn in a ballot. Luckily, Baylor sought to relieve some of the stress of student voting by installing a voting site in the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center on Nov. 7.
The first Tuesday of November in odd-numbered years is when constituents vote on constitutional amendments recently passed by the Texas Legislature. This year, the 14 proposed constitutional amendments range from higher education research to state park maintenance. At the same time, cities, school districts and other local subdivisions may hold general elections as well.
As college students — many of whom have only recently obtained the right to vote — it’s important to make our voices heard. And with the opening of the Welcome Center for voting, it’s easy for us to do so.
According to the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, college student voter turnout skyrocketed to a record high of 66% in the 2020 election — 14% higher than the college student voter turnout in the 2016 election. However, students need to continue to vote even in seemingly smaller elections, like the upcoming one, where the presidency and congressional seats aren’t at stake. Our votes affect change, no matter what’s on the ballot.
So, take advantage of the convenience of the Welcome Center for voting if you can.
If you’re an out-of-state student, be sure to mail in your ballot for your respective state. Even if you’re not currently living there full time, you deserve to have your voice heard on the homefront. If you’re curious about the logistics of mail-in ballots, Baylor has a lot of helpful tips on its voting information website. There, you can also find steps for how to register to vote in Texas using your Baylor address.
The opening of the Welcome Center for voting is a great start to pushing students to vote, but it shouldn’t stop there. There should be advertisements across campus for upcoming elections, and we must continue to stress the importance of student voting.
If you are currently a student of voting age, go out to the polls or request a mail-in ballot, and encourage your friends to vote too. No matter your political stance, you deserve to vote and should utilize the resources that Baylor has put in place to help you do so. There are no excuses not to.
