Two Trinity students have launched a voter registration drive to encourage American students to vote in the upcoming US presidential elections.
Jennifer Waters and Claire Stalhuth – who made waves over the summer after launching a petition to create a Black Studies module in Trinity – are leading a campaign with the Trinity College Dublin Students Union (TCDSU) to simplify the process of Americans voting from Dublin.
Trinity is home to hundreds of international students, many of whom hold United States citizenship..
“Only seven per cent of Americans abroad voted in 2018,” Stalhuth said in an interview with The University Times. The goal of their registration drive is to remove some of the barriers that made it more difficult for students to register and ultimately vote.
In a statement to The University Times, Waters and Stalhuth stressed, “it is our voter drive’s objective to steer students towards resources that will help them navigate and overcome the obstacles inherent to the current process”.
This is a “nonpartisan voter drive, we just want people to know how to do it,” Waters emphasized, “the United States Post is very slowed down”.
Stalhuth and Waters added that “the biggest factor in absentee voting is that they are too late”.
Waters and Stalhuth recommend two online resources, FVAP.gov and VoteFromAbroad.org, for students to learn what exactly they need to do to vote from their specific states.
With all 50 states having different procedures needed to mail in ballots, it is important to provide students with the resources available. Referring to the complicated systems some states require to vote, Waters and Stalhuth said that “the approach is terrible, but we have to do it”.
Ultimately their drive is online, taking over the TCDSU instagram stories and pages for a few weeks. Social media is the way of reaching people and spreading information, Waters said, adding: “Its convenient with the social media stuff, how I even got my absentee sent to me, was I slid up on an Instagram story and then just did it… that’s what it is now so might as well keep doing it – keep spreading it around.”
Speaking about the importance of absentee voting, Waters said: “We are just starting to see now that politics does actually affect us and the way that it can set the tone for society that participates in local norms.”
“Once we see ourselves as directly involved, the closeness and directness of the relationship has been highlighted especially now. Its importance is really starting to seep into the individual level right now.”
“Your vote counts – sorry even if you think your vote doesn’t count, if you don’t, it wont. Just participate”, the pair said.
October 4th is the last day any person from every State can register, while Waters and Stalhuth plan to encourage turnout and participation over the next few weeks with TCDSU over social media.
TCDSU Citizenship Officer Jodie Milne, who was central to the creation of the voter drive, said in a statement to The University Times that “in 2018, Trinity’s student body consisted of 997 students from the US. This was 6 per cent of the student body at the time”.
“We all know this is a very important year in the US with the upcoming presidential election, making it more important than ever that we provide these students with the tools they need to make their vote count.”
In a statement to The University Times, TCDSU President Eoin Hand said: “TCDSU is delighted to support such an important initiative as we as a Students’ Union understand the value in voter registration drives. Ensuring people can use their voice in elections is a core principle of a Union.”
