Bellarmine University conducted a campus-wide voter registration drive as part of National Voter Registration Day.
In anticipation of the upcoming election on November 6, Bellarmine's Office of Service and Leadership and Student Activities Center have been helping students register to vote and request absentee ballots.
They offered students nonpartisan information and assistance on voter registration at tables in three locations on campus today.
Brooke Wilson, Bellarmine’s director of service and leadership, said: "We want students to develop hearts for justice and action and come to see themselves as participants and citizens in our community. My hope is that students would come to understand and appreciate the power of their voice and use it for the greater good. We all have an opportunity to contribute to positive social change. Voting can serve as a catalyst, especially when our students get involved."
Kentucky's voter registration deadline is October 9, 2018. The
Kentucky State Board of Elections website provides online voter registration and printable voter registration forms, a listing of all Kentucky County Clerk offices, and information about Kentucky absentee ballot voting. Kentucky voter registration forms are also available in Bellarmine's Student Activities Center.
Out-of-state students who choose to remain registered in their home state may request an absentee ballot by contacting their hometown county clerk's office or visiting
vote.org/absentee-ballot/.
Bellarmine is offering voter registration and absentee ballot assistance at the following times and locations:
- Thursday, Sept. 27, 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Café Ogle and University Dining Hall (UDH)
- Tuesday, Oct. 2, 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Café Ogle and UDH
- Friday, Oct. 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Quad
- Monday, Oct. 8, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Café Ogle and UDH
From 1974 to 2010, voter turnout during midterm elections among Americans age 18-24 ranged from a low of 18.5 percent in 1998 to a high of 26.6 percent in 1982. Within that age group, people who have attended college vote at a significantly higher rate than those with no college experience, according to
data from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Article by Molly Jett, intern in Bellarmine's Office of Communications & Public Affairs.
