Election Day is coming up next week: make sure to exercise your civic duty
This is the Our View, prepared for by the Editorial Board and should be considered the institutional voice of The Record.
Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day. The Record’s Editorial Board is here to encourage you, and all students, to exercise your civic duty and vote.
However, this year is a little different. It is the midterm elections, which are held in the middle of a president’s four-year term. In midterm elections, constituents are given the opportunity to vote for members of Congress which are made up of two chambers—the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Constituents also vote on state and local representatives.
Every two years, all 435 seats in the House of Representative are up for grabs and a third of the Senate seats are. Representatives serve two-year terms while senators serve six-years terms. Compared to the process of electing a president where the electoral college system is used, winners in a midterm election are decided by popular vote.
Although midterm elections have historically had really low voting turnout compared to presidential elections, these elections are just as important. This year is extremely important because you will be voting for representatives who will play a key role in making decisions on important issues such as voting rights and voter suppression, gun control and the recent overturn of “Roe v. Wade.”
Voting is a privilege, particularly in a world that contains countries without the same freedoms. Not only that, but voting is your civic duty, the landmark of a thriving democracy and your ability to determine who represents you—not only at a national level, but at a state and local level as well.
That last sentence brings up another important point: the local or “smaller” races matter. As a college student, the decisions of the St. Joe mayor, city council members and other local elected officials will affect your life on a daily basis. Taking time to fill out the entire ballot thoughtfully and carefully is important.
In person voting is convenient for students, a privilege when considering the lengths some people have to go to vote. Any SJU students living on campus (except for Vincent 41-60 and Marmion House) are assigned to vote in-person at the Great Hall, while CSB students and any students living in town are assigned to vote at either Heritage Hall, St. Joseph Government Center, or Resurrection Lutheran Church —all locations that are within a short walking distance. Make sure to check your voting location on page four of this newspaper or on the CSB and SJU Votes Coalition’s Voter Guide, posted up around campus.
Bring a friend, or better yet, your entire friend group to vote alongside you. Your actions can help cultivate a culture of civic engagement on our campuses, which has a lasting effect on people’s willingness to participate in other activities and events. Hold your friends accountable about voting and encourage them along the way—we’re stronger together as an engaged student body than we are as individuals.
We take many of our American rights and liberties for granted or talk about them as some far off, good old days concept in political science classes. Voting is a right that is intended to be practiced, a way in which we can live out and express our ideals to shape the government. Next week, we encourage you to exercise yours and vote. If you have any questions about voting, please reach out to the CSB and SJU Votes Coalition at mccarthycenter@csbsju.