Students Encouraged to Vote in Upcoming Election

Without college students whom voice opinions, issues that affect young people will most likely not be heard. In the last general election only a small percentage of young voters participated. Many college students go to college away from home and thus feel they cannot participate in an election because they are not able to go home to a designated voting site.

This year students can vote more easily while away at college. Frostburg State University has joined with a program called Turbo Vote that allows students to register to vote online, verify or update voter registration, request an absentee ballot form by mail, and sign up for text and/or email election reminders (all for free).

Students have until October 14^th to register to vote in the November 4^th, 2014 elections. This opportunity allows students to be heard. When students do not participate in elections, legislatures do not take into consideration student issues. This includes such matters as college tuition, scholarship funding, student loan availability, and book costs. The less legislatures hear from students, the less likely legislatures are to consider these topics which are specific to students. People in their late 30’s and older are a majority of people who vote.The single greatest factor in political participation is age, which means the older a person is, the more likely it is that he or she will vote. Because of this phenomenon, legislatures take into consideration the issues of an older electorate, such as social security, retirement, Medicare and so on.

Voting is a requirement of citizenship. It was not too long ago that women and African Americans were denied this right and had to fight for suffrage. College students today are given the right to vote, but many do not take advantage of it. “Colleges students need to be more informed and be more engaged in the news instead of on their phones. They need to understand that they can all contribute to a better society through voting,” said Mr. Tim MaGrath, a political science teacher at FSU and the Executive Director of the J. Glenn Beall, Jr. Institute for Public Affairs.

Although news may not necessarily affect students directly, it does affect them in some way. Students can start today by going to https://frostburg.turbovote.org/register and then pressing the get started button. From there, students can follow the steps to register online and sign up for text alerts to get information regarding upcoming elections. Students can also download news apps such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post to learn about the different elections and events happening in politics. Students can also go to the Maryland State Election website to learn about the candidates running in the election.

Register to vote today and help Frostburg State University to be a place where students are engaged in news, issues, and the community. “Our communities matter and politics matter to our community. We all should strive to strengthen and improve our community,” said Mr. MaGrath. The general election is on November 4, 2014 but before you can vote, push yourself into turbo mode and go to https://frostburg.turbovote.org/register to register.