By: Lydia Campbell
As the midterm elections approach, students at Southern Adventist University shared their
perspectives on voting within their demographic.
Gianna Tetelepta, a freshman nursing major from New Jersey, said she sees voting as a good
thing for young people to participate in.
“I think it’s important that we all vote,” Tetelepta said. “Our voice matters, whether we think it
or not; it makes a difference even in local elections and presidential elections.”
Other students echoed the idea that voting is important, even if they don’t know a lot about
politics.
Madeline Cho, a sophomore speech-language pathology major from Tennessee, said, “I think it’s
definitely really important. I personally am not very invested or know a lot about politics and
stuff, but I think people who do vote, I have a lot of respect [for them].”
For some students, the voting process is straightforward.
Destiny Lassiter, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Tennessee, explained how she
registered and plans on voting this year.
“When I got my driver’s license this past spring, [I was asked], do you want to register to vote?
And I was like, yes. So, they helped me do that,” she said. ” [I’ll] probably be going to a polling
place. I know my mom’s planning on going, so I’ll probably go with her.”
Lassiter said that in her opinion, Southern students are more likely to vote than not.
“I think because we realize that things aren’t working, and we want to make a change,” Lassiter
said. “And one of the best ways we know how to do that is to vote.”
Alexandria Reid, a junior nursing major from Florida, shared her opinion on why students should
vote.
“I think as a citizen, it is very important to vote because it determines how your life is going to
be within this economy,” Reid said.“Depending on who you vote for, you see certain things
changing within communities, within your society. And I think it’s just really important for you
to be involved with your government, since you are going to be living in that system.”
Reid voted early this year and explained how she did it once she learned that it was possible in
her county.
“I just went in when it was available, and I voted earlier,” Reid said. “I just did it when I had the
opportunity to.”
However, she said she doesn’t know if students are more likely to place their vote or simply
voice their opinions.
“I think we’re more likely to have an opinion, but we may not take the time to put our opinions
to actions and vote,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people have opinions on the politics of the
country, but I’m not sure if people our age are actually going out of their way to go and put a
ballot in. Also, they should take the time to know who [they’re] voting for; do some background
knowledge.”
Marshall Beaven, a senior political science major, said being a college student doesn’t affect why
he votes, but how.
“I would say in regard to being a college student, I really tend to be very politically minded, so I
don’t necessarily know that my degree or current position has too much effect on it, aside from
just how I am voting,” Beaven said. “The struggles of voting are that you might be too busy to
remember to vote.”
Beaven believes that students have enough resources to make an informed decision.
“I generally try to look up the candidates and such. So even if I have a general idea of who I’m
voting for, I still like to check,” he said. “We [college students] have a lot of sources, whether it’s
FiveThirtyEight and also Ballotpedia. There are resources where you can check voting records
and what different candidates’ policy positions are. You can actually look up and see who you’re
voting for. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look.”
Professor Brice Bowrey, an associate professor in the History and Political Science Department,
explained his thoughts on student voting participation and potential barriers.
“[Students] have most likely moved from where they are from, which means they need to be
registered to cast a mail-in ballot or they need to be re-registered in the place that they go to
college,” Bowery said. “So, I would think that there’s a lot of systemic barriers to voting. Also, I
think when we are younger, we are less likely to be thinking about these issues and less inclined
to think that voting matters, even if we might have very strong opinions.”
Bowrey said students have abundant access to information due to the new knowledge they are
exposed to daily. He believes that voting is important for this age demographic.
“I’m not going to pretend that voting is going to solve everything or that voting is the only
avenue or even perhaps the most effective avenue to political change that we might want to see,”
Bowrey said. “But I do think that it’s a very obvious and visible avenue to bring about the world
that you might want to see. I think that you might underestimate how much it matters, but even
single votes can make a difference.”
Bowrey noted that voting doesn’t take a lot of effort, but changes should be made to help college
students be more likely to vote, such as putting polling places at universities.
“I think that the process is kind of intimidating,” he said. “I think information that explains the
process, policies or procedures [could] help simplify the process… not just for college students
but for everyone.”
The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), the United States’s largest
study of college and university student voting from Tufts University, found that in 2024, 76% of
college students registered to vote, compared to the 83% in 2020. Also, 53% of students in 2024
participated in voting, compared to 66% in 2020.
November 3rd is the official election day across the U.S., when voters can vote in local and state
elections. To vote, citizens over the age of 18 must register. Once registered, voters can
participate either in person at a polling place or by submitting a mail-in ballot. All voters must
bring a valid ID, like a driver’s license or passport, and follow the instructions on their ballot
before submitting. Students can look up registration deadlines, ballot rules and polling locations
on vote.gov or their state’s election office website.
