Ohio State student visits OSU Votes’ tabling event to check voter registration status. Credit: Katie Carson | Lantern Reporter
Voter registration efforts were brought by OSU Votes to the Ohio Union on Sept. 15 to encourage student civic engagement ahead of the midterm elections on National Voter Registration Day.
Meagen Rinard, senior assistant director for leadership and community engagement for OSU Votes, said the student group’s goal was to connect with as many students as possible to get them engaged in the election process.
“We really want it to be primarily students helping, teaching, educating other students,” Rinard? said. “That makes a better connection than sometimes staff will with students.”
Olivia Blessing, a second-year in dance and criminal justice, said she works with OSU Votes to help students who are nervous about voting.
She said many students do not know the ins and outs of voter registration.?
The most frequent question is “‘can I vote in Ohio as an out-of-state student?’… and I didn’t know that before starting this job,” Blessing said.
Emma Speyer, senior coordinator for leadership and community engagement for OSU Votes, said the organization wants to be an on-campus resource for students who have questions or concerns about voter registration.?
Speyer said OSU Votes will be tabling for the rest of the semester around campus. The organization also offers workshops, presentations and tabling requests from other campus organizations.?
Since its efforts started at the start of the academic year OSU Votes has collected at least 100 votes registration forms.
“Every day is an important day to engage with students, but today is just a day that is recognizable for a lot of students,” Rinard said.?
Carson is also involved in voter registration through Vote With Voice, a nonpartisan initiative that she founded.
