Voter Registration Drive at UWG

UWG’s Political Science Club and Young Democrats began hosting a voter registration drive on campus on Monday, Sept. 10, in the Pafford Building.

Janee Morris, Vice President of both the Political Science Club and the Young Democrats, said her organizations serve as a beacon of hope for every unregistered person.

“The purpose of the voter registration drive is to give the entire student body, as well as faculty and staff, a voice in upcoming elections,” Morris said. Morris hopes that a student-organized drive will be less intimidating for incoming freshmen than registering off-campus.  “When the student body recognizes other students participating in the voter registration drive, as well as running the drive, they gravitate more to the idea and say, ‘Hey, I need to register to vote!’”

This will be the second year the Political Science Club has been involved with student voter registration.  Last spring, the Political Science Club worked with Pi Sigma Alpha and registered over 200 students.  This year, Morris hopes to exceed that number.  Before the spring 2012 drive, she and other hosts of the drive received specialized training from Carrollton’s Board of Elections and Registration.  The training included a 30 minute session “explaining the Do’s and Don’ts of the drive” Morris said.  For this drive, six more students were trained for voter registration.  Morris says she wants to ensure that there is a student voter registration drive held every semester, and that “when someone decides to vote in any election, it started with our organization first.”

Outside of the voter registration drive, you can also register on-campus to vote in the Excel Center, Ingram Library, and the President’s Office.  In order to vote, you must register 30 days prior to the election you wish to vote in.

The deadline for registering to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election is Oct. 9. In order to vote in Carrollton, you must be registered in Carroll County.  According to the Carroll County Elections website, you must use your local address (University address if living on campus) when registering to vote.  Otherwise, your voting precinct will be assigned in your hometown.

If you are registered in another county but wish to vote in Carrollton, you can vote by absentee ballot.  You will need to fill out an absentee ballot application and submit by faxing or mailing the application to the registrar or absentee ballot clerk.  Once it is processed, you will receive an absentee ballot in the mail.  You can then fill out the ballot and mail it back to the absentee ballot clerk or personally bring the ballot to the registrar or absentee ballot clerk before the polls close on Election Day.  However, any ballots received after the polls close will not be counted.

You can check to see if you are registered to vote and also where you should vote by calling 1-888-265-1115 or by using the Poll Locator at http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/polllocator/PollLocator.aspx.

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