By Ashlyn Beck | News Editor
Baylor offers instructions on requesting mail-in ballots for college students, but experts say it’s a much better option for students to register to vote in McLennan County.
There are options for students when it comes to voting this year. The Baylor voting information website outlines all the options for students who aren’t from McLennan County. Students can register to vote in McLennan County or their home county, but cannot register to vote in more than one place. If students are registered at their home address and can’t return for elections, they must request a mail-in ballot before Oct. 7.
Waco NAACP President Dr. Peaches Henry said that the NAACP strongly encourages students to register to vote in McLennan County rather than going home to vote or requesting a ballot by mail. “Vote where you sleep” is their rule of thumb.
“What we have learned is that for college students, to vote by mail is much more complex than it is for them to simply register where they are and vote,” Henry said.
Jared Goldsmith is the McLennan County Elections Administrator and said that inaccessibility to a ballot should not be a reason to not vote in Waco. The Elections Office in downtown Waco provides voter registration applications. Students can come in, change their permanent address to Waco and register to vote.
“The voter registration deadline is going to be in early October, but the sooner that you register to vote, the better,” Goldsmith said. “You can do it all in one fell swoop.”
Goldsmith said students should come to the office with their legal name, current address and a Texas driver’s license, ID number or the last four digits of their social security number.
Though students can request a mail-in ballot, Henry said it is much more complicated than other options. Students must go online, print out the application, fill out the application, mail it to the Elections Office, wait for the application to be approved and then go through the same process with the actual ballot.
Henry said there have been complaints around the country about USPS’ difficulty in delivering mail ballots in a timely manner. This can cause issues for a student doing it at the last second.
If students choose to register in person, Goldsmith said there are 46 voting centers in McLennan County, including Baylor’s own Hurd Welcome Center.
“Consider this: Baylor has a vote center on campus,” Henry said. “All [students] have to do is to register.”
Henry and Goldsmith suggested students go to the Elections Office in person to register. In Texas, one can’t register to vote online like in some other states. One must go online, print out the registration form and mail it to the Elections Office.
“That means that we’re going to put students into the trouble of printing a form, finding an envelope, finding a stamp, figuring out the address and mailing that to the elections office,” Henry said.
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Students planning on going to their hometowns to vote must be aware of what time voting centers close and possibly miss class to make it to voting centers in time.
“There are a lot of things that could be done, but why make it complicated? Students could actually register here, vote early and be done with it,” Henry said.
Though the process might sound daunting, Goldsmith said that it’s important for students to vote. It’s a common idea among students that their vote doesn’t truly make a difference, but Goldsmith said this is entirely incorrect.
“It’s a right to get out and have their voice heard about who their government leaders are. We don’t need to take that lightly,” Goldsmith said. “There are lots of people who don’t get that right.”
According to Henry, college students are very powerful in this election, and once they become engaged in voting, students continue to exercise that privilege for the “rest of their years.”
“Y’all [have] more years ahead of you than the rest of us do, and so I want students to take control,” Henry said. “You have a voice, and I want students to use it.”
