SMU volunteers reported that weeks of tabling paid off as 140 students have registered to vote.
Students have little time left to register in Texas, the deadline to register only a few days away on Monday, Oct. 7.
“At the Maguire Ethics Center, we’re passionate about helping SMU students make their voices heard,” said Rylee Bailey, program coordinator for the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. “Our voter engagement and registration efforts are all about making it easier for students to take part in the democratic process because we believe that being an engaged citizen is a key part of our collective public responsibility.”
Registering to vote in Texas can only be done in person or by mail, so voter registration volunteers have worked diligently to provide accessible locations to ensure as many students as possible are prepared to vote.
Registration drives have been held at the Hughes Trigg Student Center, Fondren Library and tabled at various events.
“We’re continuing to find creative ways to spread the word,” Bailey said.
Registration volunteers were at a Faculty in Residence (FiR) event at Crum Commons chatting with students about civic engagement. They have also been handing out bundles of voter information cards to various campus offices and distributing them at other events.
At a registration table in Hughes Trigg, Anne Besser, a deputy voter registrar for Dallas County, registered students to vote. She explained that she had to go through special training to become certified for this role, reflecting the responsibility involved to ensure the integrity of the process.
During one of her shifts, Besser and her team registered 30 students in just two hours.
“The process to register to vote is simple using the SMU resources,” said Charlotte Esping, a senior at SMU.
“Having this opportunity to register to vote in between my classes was so easy. “The whole process took five minutes and now I’m all set.”
In addition to tabling events, students who want to register to vote may stop by the office for the Maguire Center for Ethics in McFarlin Auditorium.
On election day, a polling site will be available on campus in the downstairs ballroom of Hughes Trigg, open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., to help students with any last minute voter registration needs.
