Unless you’ve been living under a rock deep inside a cave, you know that Election Day is a month away. On Nov. 8, millions of Americans will go to the polls to completely uproot the government as we know it.
It would logically follow that, when given the opportunity, all Americans would exercise their right to participate in this process –– that all Americans would get out and vote. In reality, though, historical data shows that nearly 45 percent of all Americans were willing to give up their most basic right in the last presidential election. In the 18-24 year-old demographic, many of whom were voting for the first time, 60 percent of us chose to forego our rights. We chose to accept the opinion of the other 40 percent as our own.
What is perhaps even worse is that 50 percent of our demographic eliminated themselves from the conversation by not even registering to vote. These numbers are shocking –– especially in a nation that prides itself on democracy and freedom of choice.
The SGA is tackling voter apathy head-on and making voter registration a priority of the Roth Administration. A certain agriculture school a few hours south of here thinks they can register more voters than we can. “The Iron Bowl of Civic Engagement,” as SGA President Lillian Roth dubbed it, will not end in defeat. Auburn’s goal is to register 1,001 voters, and we’re going to register at least 1,002. The External Affairs cabinet has launched the Roll The Vote campaign to register 1,002 voters by the Oct. 24 deadline. We will be hosting various drives across campus. Those interested in registering can come by the SGA office or see the locations of various drives on the SGA Facebook page. To date, we have registered over 600 voters.
I have yet to meet a college student that lacks an opinion on the direction of this country, but unfortunately opinions are not actions. Exercise your most basic democratic right and civic duty by registering to vote and going to the polls. Imagine if the hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in institutions of higher learning across Alabama headed to the polls and voted for their interests. The potential of change would be tremendous –– like never before.
In Alabama, the deadline to register is Oct. 24 and the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Nov. 3. All of this information, as well as an online registration option for in-state residents is available at www.AlabamaVotes.gov. I’ll see you at the polls.
Braden Morell is a senior majoring in civil engineering.
