By Hanifah Jones, Digital Media Editor
Nov. 6 marks Election Day and Susquehanna students are headed to the polls to cast their votes for the midterm elections.
Transportation to polling centers will be provided by the Johnson Center for Civic Engagement, JCCE. The shuttle will be departing from Degenstein Campus Center hourly, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Selinsgrove polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
According to a school-wide email from Pam Frontino, assistant director for leadership and engagement and the JCCE, the location that students vote is determined by where they live on campus. Residents of 18th street, North Hall and the Theta Chi house will be voting at All Saints Episcopal Church at 129 N. Market St. Students living elsewhere on campus will be voting at Sharon Lutheran Church, which is located at 120 S. Market St.
“We have been working with the SU Democrats and the SU Republicans to organize some options to help student get to the polls,” Frontino said. “The shuttle will be leaving every hour, on the hour.” Students can reserve seats by emailing frontino@susqu.edu or waiting for the shuttle outside Degenstein Campus Center.
According to a 2014 campus report from the National Study of Learning, Voting & Engagement, in the 2014 midterm elections only 57.7 percent of Susquehanna students were registered to vote, with only 8.6 percent of the student body making it to the polls.
“A lot of students face obstacles with voting in terms of being able to get out and vote,” president of the SU Republican Club Tessa Minicozzi said. “Students from other districts and even other states have problems with getting their absentee ballots in on time.”
“I know a lot of members of my club said they didn’t get their ballots mailed to them until Friday,” Minicozzi continued. “It just makes it difficult when you have to have it post marked by a certain date for it to count as a vote.”
Minicozzi also expressed that people often do not have the opportunity to vote because Election Day is not a federal holiday, and everyone still has to go to work.
Midterm elections occur in the middle of a president’s term and allow citizens to vote for state, federal and local officials.
The SU Republican Club and SU College Democrats co-hosted a voting registration drive earlier in the semester, with representatives from both organizations urging their fellow students to vote.
“[Voters] should be aware that the outcome of this year’s midterm elections will have a serious impact on the decisions and laws made by President Trump and Congress for the next two years,” said Erik Rivas Contreras, secretary for the SU College Democrats.
“I personally think it’s really important to get out and vote because I think it’s your duty as an American citizen,” said Minicozzi.
Nationally, the voting turnouts for young adults ages 18 to 24 are low, according to the Student Vote Project, 42 percent were registered to vote and only 17 percent of young adults across the country voted in the 2014 midterm elections.
Minicozzi stressed the importance of voting amongst college students and young adults. “Students are the future of this country, they are the youngest part of the electorate and the decisions that the government is making is going to affect them in the future,” she said. “By the time some of these decisions are implemented we’re going to be the middle-aged people that it’s going to affect the most.”
Other students across campus also emphasize the importance of voting. “I think it is important to vote because it is the best way to have your voice heard and have a say in what happens in our political processes,” said Brianna Tate Avey, who works at the JCCE. “Everyone deserves to have that say in the way our government operates.”
