The Electoral Extravaganza, held Sept. 16-20, aimed to educate students on the importance of voting and the process to register to vote. The event was sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government and Kent State Votes.
The organizations came together to plan events each day during the week that informed students on the voting process in time for the upcoming election.
“It’s a week of events leaning towards voter engagement and civic participation ahead of the election,” Zach Graves, the director of governmental affairs in USG and the co-chair of Kent State Votes said. “Our main focus is trying to register as many students and make sure that they’re informed on the voting process before the voter registration deadline, which is Oct. 7.”
On Monday, they held a workshop to educate students on voter registration in order to get students excited and prepared to vote. On Tuesday, they held the Flashes Vote Festival on the K where students had the opportunity to receive free t-shirts and food while gaining information about the Ohio voting process.
“We bring together as many student organizations as we can … it’s just aimed towards voter registration,” Graves said. “We had a good turnout so it was a good event.”
On Wednesday, they provided students with an opportunity to meet the members of the USG and find out ways to get involved on campus.
On Thursday, USG and Kent State Votes had an open forum and interview with State Representative Casey Weinstein.
“He’s the representative from Hudson. He’ll be here to talk about the election, state politics, Senate Bill 83, the house higher education committee and other topics that are related to that, so we are really excited for that and hope we get a good turnout,” Graves says.
The Electoral Extravaganza is concluding on Friday with a Pledge to Vote and Plan to Vote Celebration. The event’s goal is to inform students on how to make a plan to vote, educate them on their options and get them set to cast their ballots, Graves said.
Graves recommends students check their registration status after they register to ensure the registration went through, so nobody shows up to the polls unable to vote. Students who have moved dorm rooms must register to vote at their changed address. If a registration form is filled out, students can take them to the library front desk, which will send the forms to the Board of Elections.
USG plans on holding more events after the Oct. 7 registration deadline that focus on education about the issues on ballots and the candidates. On Election Day, Nov. 5, both organizations plan to have a presence on the K to answer students’ questions about voting and help coordinate transportation.
“I think that our generation continues to be engaged and soon enough we will be the largest voting block in the country,” Graves said. “I think that my work with Kent State Votes and in USG has just been about uplifting that; helping students make sure that they know what election is about, the issues that are on the ballot, the candidates that are on the ballot and just trying to get as many people involved as we can, and I hope that we can continue to do that.”
Linsday Collier is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
