With on-campus polling locations no longer available, the Student Democracy Coalition at Western Carolina University is organizing efforts to help students access the polls and stay informed ahead of the upcoming primary election.
The coalition addressed these concerns during its first meeting of the spring semester on Tuesday, Feb 3. It also held elections to restructure its executive cabinet and plan goals for the months ahead.
Members elected Karl Ferm as president, Noah Dunn as vice president, and Elias Evans as social media coordinator. The organization begins the semester with new leadership and a strong emphasis on student voter engagement.
Now that WCU polls are off campus, the SDC is finding ways to get students to polling locations.
“We are going to be encouraging as many people as they can to go to the Center for Community Engagement Service Learning. CCESL will be providing shuttle services to the polling place,” said Evie Corn, SDC’s official student advisor. “CCESL is not only providing their own shuttles, but they are collaborating with other departments around campus that are providing shuttles of their own as well.”
CCESL shuttle services will run every 30 minutes from the A.K. Hinds University Center to the Jackson County Cullowhee Recreation Center polling location. Service will be available during the early voting weekdays from Feb. 12–27 from noon. to 5 p.m. On Election Day, March 3, the shuttles will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Corn added that students are encouraged to use their own vehicles when possible and coordinate rides with others.
“We’re going to try to educate and spread awareness. But especially right now, a lot of people are having concerns about freedom of speech, freedom of vote, especially since we’ve just been impacted,” Corn said. They also encouraged students to attend civil dialogues hosted by CCESL and the SDC as a space to share concerns and gain informed perspectives from professionals.
With the new strategies to get students to the polls, they are hoping to see more voter participation.
“Primaries have dismal participation rates, and we want to get that up. I think we’re doing a pretty good job with that,” said SDC president Karl Ferm. “Despite the yearly voting site closure, I think we’re going to still get a lot more people to vote than we otherwise would.”
As the SDC works to increase voter turnout, Ferm encouraged students to research candidates and vote based on their personal values.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of participation, hopefully more than the nine or 10 percent I think primaries usually are. It’s always our goal to get voter participation up,” said Ferm.
As the primary and midterm elections approach, the SDC plans to expand its outreach and resources to support student voter participation despite the absence of on-campus polling locations.
“In SDC, we don’t care what you vote for; we just care you vote in the first place,” said Ferm.
Early in-person voting for the primary begins Feb. 12 and runs through Feb. 28.
Additional information about the election and the SDC can be found on the organization’s social media platforms and the WCU voting page.
