SPOKANE, Wash. — As part of National Voter Registration Day, Gonzaga University helped its students secure their right to vote Tuesday.
“Especially for young people, I think our voices really do need to be heard,” said Gonzaga senior Kellyn Pattee.
Pattee helped run the voter registration drive on campus.
“I think it is our civic duty to vote, that’s what it means to be in a democracy. To uphold the democracy you do need to vote,” she said.
Rebecca Donaway, a communication studies lecturer at Gonzaga, said she wants those first-time voters to get in the habit of voting.
“The habits that they create right now between the ages of 18 and 24 are really important to what kind of civic engagement they have going forward,” Donaway said.
Tatum Leonhard is a senior at Gonzaga. She said she’s heard other students say they don’t think their vote counts.
“I think a lot of people think their vote doesn’t matter,” Leonhard said.
Assistant professor of the Political Science department Sarah James said that is not the case.
“That might feel like it is especially the case for something like the presidential election but there’s so many local and state elections that are happening that can be won by a couple hundred votes,” James said.
There were a lot of resources available for students at the event, like information about how to register online, request an absentee ballot and preview the ballot that you will receive.
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“The message that we are often trying to remind students of is the world can feel really out of control sometimes and there is so much rhetoric about doom and gloom, especially for their generation. The only way to change that is to start participating in politics,” James said.
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