“Tainted Tate Reeves” and “Lying Liberal” are just a few of the phrases flying across TV and phone screens as various candidates prepare for upcoming elections. Although campaigns pull out all the stops, they are reliant on one thing: voters.
With the upcoming election season, the Center for Community Engagement is planning a number of events over the next few weeks to amplify student voting registration and participation.
The first event “Register to Vote & Snow Cones” is scheduled for Sept. 19 from 11 a.m.to 2 p.m.. in the Union Plaza. The CCE is hosting the event in partnership with the University of Mississippi Voting Coalition, MS Votes, the Andrew Goodman Foundation, UM Voting Engagement Ambassadors, the Associated Student Body, the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office and Oxford to the Ballot Box.
Student Leader for UM Voting Engagement Ambassadors, Alex Mobley, explained that the coalition came together with the intention of “hosting registration drives with games, food, and other incentives to get students registered to vote and engaged and hopefully excited about the upcoming elections.”
Additionally, the CCE is hoping to inform the student body about National Voter Registration Day taking place Sept. 19 and National Voter Education Week taking place Oct. 2-6.
Caroline Leonard, president of the UM Voting Coalition, shared her hopes of engaging civic participation through these events.
“Voting is a habit forming activity, so it is really important for us to engage students, and often first time voters, as soon as possible so they can begin what is hopefully a life-long practice of voting,” Leonard said.
Leonard also explained that this year provides Mississippi natives with the additional opportunity of voting in local elections.
“This year is a great time to engage students in Mississippi, as we are one of a few states with gubernatorial elections this year, so there is state wide attention but not the same pressure to vote as there is during national election seasons,” Leonard said.
Snow Cones are not the only tool the CCE is using to entice students to register to vote. The CCE also has plans to host events throughout early October offering Insomnia Cookies on Oct. 5 and “Do-nut Forget to Vote” on Oct. 9, the last day to register in-person to vote in Mississippi. Mailed voter registration applications must be postmarked by Oct. 10.
Mobley shared that an important avenue the CCE uses to reach students is its CCE website. However, the CCE has had difficulty updating candidate and election information due to the outdated website format.
“Our website is in bad need of updating,” Mobely said. “Some of the information there is current, but we want the website to be done as soon as possible.”
Mobely expressed his hopes that the website would be finished by the Presidential election at the latest.
“While all elections matter, we realize that most people are going to vote in the Presidential election if any, so that is why we need to start as soon as possible to update the information–hopefully by November,” Mobely said.
Despite the new website’s delays, Mobely stressed that if the website is not operational in enough time before the elections, the CCE has planned other ways to ensure students are informed.
“We answer all questions through email umvotes@olemiss.edu,” Mobely said. “We hang flyers and host these events to get people informed. We also help with the absentee ballot which can be very complicated. We always encourage people to email or even come into the office to get help with that.”
