With midterm elections approaching fast, student groups around campus worked together to host voter registration events. Students who were previously underage or had not managed to sign up were able to fill out forms and become registered voters.

EMU actively seeks to prepare students to serve and lead in a global context, and for many, that means being involved in the surrounding community. Associate Dean of Students, Rachel Roth Sawatzky, said that serving starts with “being aware… and [engaging] with and sharing responsibility for our local and international communities. Voting is one way to accept that responsibility.”

Co-President of Student Government Association, senior Nicole Litwiller, agrees with Sawatzky. “One of the main ideas that EMU strives to foster is the idea of service, and the ability to vote is a way one can serve.”

A total of nine clubs and organizations on campus, The Young Democrats Club, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and Black Student Union, to name a few, came together to support these events.

These voter drives are not usually held during non-Presidential Election years, and there often is not as much student response when they are. The enthusiasm of students really pushed for the voter registration drives this year. Students who go to college in Virginia are considered Virginia residents and are allowed to vote in the upcoming elections for U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, and City Council. This means that all students on campus over 18 are able to vote if they are registered voters by Oct. 15.

This is an important election for Virginia. For the first time, after 13 consecutive terms, Representative Bob Goodlatte is no longer running for reelection. This will allow for new blood in the form of either Republican State Delegate Ben Cline or Democrat Jennifer Lewis.

Registered EMU students are able to have a say in who will fill the role of Representative after 25 years of Goodlatte.

To reach the most amount of students, the voter registration drives were held at a variety of events such as Common Grounds Happy Hour, the women’s volleyball game, and Common Grounds Trivia Night. A table was set up and manned by student volunteers who were trained in handling forms and helping people understand how to register.

The vote coming up on Nov. 6 is an opportunity for students, maybe for the first time, to vote for governmental representatives. Program Director of the Center for Justice and Peace Building Jayne Docherty said, “Young people are the ones who will live with the decisions made by our elected officials.”

The polling station for EMU is Thomas Harrison Middle School on East Market Street.