National Voter Registration Day is coming up this Tuesday, Sept. 28.
A handful of the Associated Students of Boise State University (ASBSU) members will be hosting a booth in the quad on Sept. 28th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to help students register to vote.
Their goal is to make the registration process much easier and more efficient, enabling students to register online within minutes even if they’re out of state.
Junior Samantha Mulvihill is in her second ASBSU position this year as the Government Relations Officer and has been the driving force behind this year’s National Voter Registration day in the quad.
“We’re just trying to make it known that it’s easy to get registered,” said Mulvihill. “It’s honestly very simple and I feel like a lot of college students don’t know that.”
With the understanding that many students do not have a lot of time in between classes to register, ASBSU will also have a QR code at their booths for students to scan which will take them to the voting website where they can register to vote on their own time.
“As you’re beginning your college career, voting is one of your first steps to becoming an engaged citizen,” said Mulvihill. “I think this is the easiest way to influence issues you’re passionate about.”
The rules that come with registering to vote can often derail younger generations. However, access to registering online while living out of state and having the opportunity to change your registration at any time makes the path to placing a vote much easier.
Political assistant professor, Isaac Castellano, works closely within the political science department as the internship coordinator.
“When you don’t vote, you are giving more power to the person who does vote,” said Castellano. “Active informed citizens are an incredibly important component of functioning democracy in terms of delivering that element of accountability to our elected officials to ensure they are pursuing policies that the majority of citizens agree with.”
According to Political Science Program Lead and Associate Professor Jeffrey Lyons, the Political Science Department is always working on connecting students to internship opportunities with weekly emails listing new opportunities within the Boise community.
Boise State offers a lot of opportunities for students to get more involved with politics on campus through ASBSU and the political science department.
“We make a lot of efforts to try to connect students to opportunities that exist sort of in the campaign world in the political and the policy world as well,” said Lyons.
There are many opportunities for students to get involved in campaigning at the local level with the big campaign season on the horizon.
“If there’s an issue you’re interested in as a student, there is a group in town here that would love to have you as a volunteer and potentially even as an intern,” said Castellano. “There really is no limit to how involved students can get.”
If students are interested in learning more about the opportunities within the Political Science Department, email Isaac Castellano at isaaccastellano@boisestate.edu.
