During many students’ first major election season, Absentee Ballot Days at Bender Library quickly ensured student voices could be heard through advance voting.
The Absentee Ballot Days took place on the first floor of the Library every day from Sept. 16 to Sept. 20. According to Gwendolyn Reece, the director of research, teaching and learning at the Library, across these days, 917 students attended the event and signed up to receive absentee ballots. Students were welcomed by staff and volunteers ready to help with any issue that might arise during the signup process.
According to Reece, staff helped students verify their registration or “register in whatever state it is that they have the permanent address.” They also helped students who are interested in registering in D.C.
“We're trying, at any rate, to assist [students] in navigating that process. And then we provide them with free printing copies of their IDs if they need it,” Reece said.
Reece introduced the idea for Absentee Ballot Days in 2018 and has been a key contributor to the event ever since. In 2020, she created the request for a ballot website which she updates every year with new forms and voting requirements. However, their work doesn’t end with these ballot days.
“We also have some additional material that we give [students] to try to help with the process once they get the ballot,” Reece said. “Once they get their ballot, many of the states now require notaries, which usually cost $5 a time. I am now a notary. I will do it for free.”
Along with Reece, Mychaella Bowen, a School of International Service alum and the library programming coordinator, also played a major role in organizing these events.
“A lot of what we provide here is just that kind of one-stop-shop resource for everything absentee,” Bowen said. “It’s really important to have these kinds of programs on campus in order to cement those patterns for students later in their lives.”
Absentee Ballot Days was successful in helping many students thanks to library staff like Cheyenne Smith, a student worker and senior in the School of Public Affairs who works primarily for the communications division and is in charge of the marketing material.
When planning the advertising for Absentee Ballot Days, Smith said she wanted to bring some fun into a tense political environment. She was one of the designers of the geese posters that can be seen all around campus.
“I like the silliness of it all… while everything is really serious and a lot of things seem really bleak right now, sort of bringing that aspect of hardness in to draw you into these serious issues but it can still be a little fun and bring you joy,” Smith said.
Bowen said she recognized that the University prides itself on being politically and civically engaged when planning this event.
“Studies have shown that early involvement in civic engagement and creating that pattern of civic engagement is what lays the groundwork for ongoing civic engagement throughout one’s life,” Bowen said.
Reece hopes that providing college students with opportunities like the Absentee Ballot Days will help them remain civically engaged throughout their lifetimes.
“I think in any kind of society that has a democracy or republic, in our case, citizen engagement is what makes and bricks the country in so many ways,” Reece said. “Part of what I wanted to do is to ensure that people are able to vote, that we remove barriers because we want them to be able to have good, positive voting experiences the first few times that we remain civically engaged.”
This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Ariana Kavoossi and Ella Rousseau.
