Students afforded opportunities for quick registration by on-campus organizations
Taylor Hill, an Auburn graduate, provides a way for students to register outside the Student Center: Kalyn Ballard, a freshman in nutrition; Kelly Anderson, a freshman in biomedical sciences; and Morgan McKean, a freshman in journalism, complete their forms. Morgan Thacker / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
Oct. 24.
This is the date that should be on all students’ minds who still have “register to vote” on their to-do lists.
Darius Slusher, who works for the Lee County Board of Registrars, said this is the deadline for Alabama voters to register for the upcoming presidential election.
“Registration forms have to be either here with us or postmarked by that date,” Slusher said.
Students can find Alabama voter registration forms sitting on the Foy Information Desk in the Student Center.
Slusher said citizens can also physically come into the Registrar’s office at the Lee County Courthouse and register to vote online or sign up to vote when renewing their driver’s licenses.
Online registration forms can be found at www.alabamavotes.gov.
Carla Mitchell, a sophomore in education, said she registered when she turned 18.
“My mom guided me through it,” Mitchell said.
She said her mother gave her the form to fill out when she went to get her license renewed.
Slusher said out-of-state students have two choices: they can register to vote in Lee County, or they can request an absentee ballot from their home state.
Christa Slaton, director of the Election Administration Program in the College of Liberal Arts, said in an e-mail students looking for information on absentee ballots from their home state can go to the following Web site: www.eac.gov/voter/RegistertoVote.
“They fill out the form and mail it to the designated address,” Slaton said.
Slaton warned the deadline for registration differs by state.
For example, in Georgia, voters must have sent in their registration forms no later than Oct. 6.
Slaton said this election has seen a record number of young people registering to vote.
“Young people participated in the presidential primaries and caucuses in record numbers,” Slaton said.
Although Slusher has also seen a significant number of young people coming in to register, he said the demographic is far from limited to just them.
“It’s across the board,” Slusher said. “We get people coming in from all walks of life and all age groups.”
Slusher said people who have never voted before are registering.
“We have 2,500 so far this month,” Slusher said. “We average about 200 a day.”
Chris Kavouklis, a freshman in political science, said this is the first election he will be voting in.
“It’s a big election,” Kavouklis said. “Everybody is ready for a difference, one way or the other.”
Slusher said he thinks this election will be the biggest turnout they’ve had in years.
“This election is sort of a historical slate,” Slusher said. “We have for the first time an African American on the ticket for a major party and a woman on the ticket for a major party.”
Slaton said this election is bringing in a lot of minority voters who have only relatively recently gained their suffrage.
Women have only been able to vote since 1920, African Americans since the mid 1960s and young people ages 18-20 since 1971, Slaton said.
“Diversifying the presidential candidate pool has energized groups that were widely disenfranchised for most of our history — African Americans, women and our youngest voters,” Slaton said in an e-mail.
Mitchell said in her opinion, everyone should vote if they are able to, because it is our right as Americans and democratic citizens — a right we have fought for.
“I’m a big person for voting,” Mitchell said. “I think everybody should vote, and if not, then they have nothing to complain about.”
