Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Tuesday, Oct. 1 with a correction to the absentee ballot request deadline and on Oct. 3 to add there is a polling place on election day on FAU’s Boca Raton campus.
With only 36 days until the United States general election on Nov. 5, Florida Atlantic University staff and student-led organizations team up to get students registered to vote as the deadline is Oct. 7.
In less than two months, U.S. citizens can cast their vote on the ballot for the next president, along with positions for state representatives and district court judges. Also on the ballot are six state constitutional amendments where voters will decide on issues like legalizing recreational marijuana consumption for 21-year-olds and overturning the states’ current 6-week abortion ban.
Below are the following amendments on the Florida ballot, according to Ballotpedia:
Amendment 1: Partisan School Board Elections
Amendment 2: Right to Hunt and Fish
Amendment 3: Marijuana Legalization Initiative
Amendment 4: Right to Abortion Initiative
Amendment 5: Annual Inflation Adjustment for Homestead Property Tax Exemption Value
Amendment 6: Repeal of Public Financing Statewide Campaigns
Evan Bennett is an FAU history professor currently teaching “History of Voting in America” this semester. He stresses the importance of students participating in this upcoming election.
“Students shouldn’t just sit on the sideline,” Bennett explains. “Young voters are going to have to live with the choices made, so they should have a voice in choosing.”
Student organizer for FAU’s chapter of the Florida College Democrats, Nick Ostheimer, implores students to “show up to vote,” on election day.
“We really want to organize face-to-face with students,” Ostheimer said. “A lot of stuff coming from the top down from [FAU] can be out of touch for a lot of students who aren’t that involved in campus life or other activities.”
Ostheimer aims to bring engagement directly to students, meeting them “where they are.”
The Florida Senate made student voter registration harder for organizations like Florida College Democrats to register students by passing Bill 7050 last year. This bill “has put specific requirements and stipulations on organizations registering people to vote,” the UP reported in August.
“There are significant fines in the event someone accidentally mishandles voter information [because of SB 7050],” said Bennett. “Most agencies that typically used to do voter registration are reluctant now.”
However, despite the passage of State Bill 7050, students and FAU organizations are still actively promoting civic engagement and registering students to vote.
The FAU Weppner Center for LEAD and Service-Learning offers opportunities for students to volunteer for events that promote student civic engagement, according to the center’s website.
Marlynn Lopez, the director of the FAU Weppner Center for LEAD and Service-Learning, said the center started out as a table in the breezeway. The center is focused on “developing civically responsible students,” according to the center’s mission statement.
In order to promote student civic engagement, Lopez said the Division of Student Affairs sent out “emails to students sharing information on voter registration.”
The Weppner Center also measures student voter registration through the nationally recognized Tufts University NSLVE report.
According to the NSLVE report, young Florida voters are registering as political independents at higher rates, which may make party mobilization more difficult during election season.
According to the FAU library’s website, in order to vote in Florida, individuals need to be U.S. citizens. To vote in the state, they should also be a lawful, permanent resident of Florida, at least 18 years old by the time of casting the ballot (pre-registration open when individuals are 16), have never been convicted of a felony and have not specifically ruled by a judge unable to vote.
If you will not be able to make it to the polls on election day, you have the option to vote by mail via absentee ballot. You must apply for your ballot, which can be done by accessing the US Vote Foundation, and your election office must receive your ballot request by Oct. 24. The foundation recommends you submit this request as soon as possible so that your election office can receive your official ballot by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. must mail in your ballot no later than Sept. 21 for your vote to be counted.
Absentee ballot deadlines can be found on the US Vote Foundation’s website.
The supervisor of the elections offices for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties provides polling place locators to help voters locate where to vote on election day.
There will be a voting poll on the FAU Boca Raton Campus in the Arena Lobby on election day. Also, the FAU Jupiter campus will have early voting, available from Oct. 21 through Nov. 3 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections.
Early Voting for the Nov. 5, 2024, general election will be available from Oct. 21 through Nov. 3 at the locations listed below. Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned at any Early Voting location during Early Voting hours, by mail using pre-paid postage, or to one of the four offices during office hours.
McKenna Bailey, an FAU student, recently registered to vote through vote.org via an Instagram link. She believes that social media is helpful in providing information on how to register to vote and also a “great way to capture the attention of our age range.”
Bailey said that social media and the meme-ification of politics make these issues “easier to digest,” and at the same time, entertaining.
Donovan Bradley, regional field coordinator for the “Leadership Institute” located in Arlington, Virginia, encourages all students to register and informs us that there are several ways to “make your voices heard.”
“Look at the policies that are important to you and how it’s affecting you financially and individually,” Bradley said, encouraging/calling first-time voters to do their research in order to make the best decision.
Liam Burke is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].
