By Izzy Silverman
Two students held up a NYPIRG "I Registered to Vote" sign. (Photo via @purchasenypirg on Instagram)
Deadlines to register to vote are coming up fast. In New York, voters have to be registered by Oct. 26 to vote in the 2024 election.
Students living on campus have the option to either request an absentee ballot or re-register to vote on campus. Both applications for voter registration and absentee ballot applications are available in English and Spanish. For many people, all it takes is a little planning ahead for them to be able to vote.
“It’s one day,” said Sabrina Thompson, a member of the Political Science club executive board. “Why not take that day to be empowered in your choice rather than giving away your choice.”
At Purchase, registering or requesting an absentee ballot is as simple as knocking on the door of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) room inside the Campus Center North building. Located next to the Commuter's Lounge in room 1002B, NYPIRG is a non-profit organization that has several campaigns such as non-partisan Voter Mobilization and Voting Rights.
“We are non-partisan,” said Liza Estony, an intern for NYPIRG. “So when we go into a class rep, we’re never there with an agenda in terms of voter party, who to vote for. We are just there for voting in general.“
Information on how to register or apply for an absentee ballot is accessible through the NYPIRG Instagram account as well as on the Purchase College website. NYPIRG interns also go around campus with clipboards, at tables, or in classrooms trying to get people to register in time for the upcoming election.
“It’s been really interesting,” Estony said. “I expected it to be a little bit easier. Because you really do get different responses from everyone, it’s crazy. Like, some people will really turn their nose up at you. Other people are like, ‘Oh, thank god, where have you been? I've been trying to register for weeks.'”
Registering, or pre-registering if you aren’t yet 18, means choices will have to be made, including party registration. Parties are not required to vote in any election other than a primary in New York State. Primaries are the elections to decide a party's candidate for a position in the case where two people from the same party want to run. Parties can be joined or changed at any time.
Another choice is where to vote. Many students at Purchase are not from Westchester County. Since they live on campus, they are able to decide whether to vote in Westchester County or in their hometown. This is if a student still has residency in a different state or county. The difference is in the ballots, and you can only pick one.
Firstly, while the presidential candidates are the same on both ballots, the amount your vote matters may be different. This is because of the Electoral College and how some states only require a few votes on either side to decide which party will gain their electoral points.
“The electoral college system in this country was designed to, initially, leave states that have lower rates of population to make sure that they still have their voices heard. And so, as a result, people from different states have more of these electoral points that either party needs to win an election,” said Marina Misic, an intern for NYPIRG.
Misic continued, “So, places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, are known as swing states, that basically [means they are] are able to somewhat determine the outcome of an election. For whoever you're voting for in this coming election, your vote will matter more by population in proportion if you are a resident of those states and sending in an absentee ballot from one of those states.”
The upcoming election is not just a presidential election. Presidential candidates will be sharing the ballet with the state and local officials. These local officials could mean governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, mayors, or any other member of the state, county, or local government that is up for election.
Many ballots across the United States will include ballot proposals on the back. Ballot proposals can be on the state or local level and allow residents of an area to have a direct voice in state constitutional amendments, changes to the city or local charter, funding acts, and/or school budgets. “In New York State we have, on the ballot, the right, we’re trying to codify in the New York State constitution, the right for like gender equality, and abortion, and women's contraceptive rights,” said Thompson.
“You don’t have class on Tuesday, but you have class on Monday and Wednesday,” said Ines Schmitt Alvarez, a project coordinator at NYPIRG. “So, we try to make them think about that and have it planned. Whatever they decide, it’s their choice, but think about it.”
Many students won’t be able to vote at their assigned voting location if their polling location is off-campus. This doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be able to vote in person via early voting or use an absentee ballot.
An absentee ballot is a ballot mailed directly to campus that you can fill out and mail back to your board of elections. You can fill out a request for an absentee ballot in the NYPIRG office or online through the state’s Board of Elections website. For New York State, the application must be received by the board of elections 10 days before the election while early mail ballots have to be postmarked on or by Election Day.
To vote for Westchester County, re-register for on-campus voting and to be able to vote, in-person, on campus on Election Day. “I think it’s important that we’re offering it on campus for all students that are eligible to vote,” said Estony. “Save yourself a trip, that’s what I tell people.”
“I come from a country that when I was young, I was in a dictatorship. So, for me, you know, the right to vote is very important,” Schmitt Alvarez, who was born in Argentina. “I don’t care what they vote. I think it’s important to people be represented and respect the election.”
Register to vote by going to vote.gov, or stop by the NYPIRG office.
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