The College Democrats of Longwood University held a voter registration drive on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 on Stubbs Lawn from 11AM to 2PM to encourage fellow Lancers to register. This was the last day that people could register to vote in the state of Virginia.
Ashley Brooks, the treasurer of the College Democrats of Longwood University, stated, “Now that the club is back up and active again, it’s nice to reinvigorate that political spirit on campus and to get people to go out and vote, no matter who they’re voting for. Just as long as they’re registered, we are happy about that.”
“It’s a nice simple way to get people involved, like the rest of the community involved in Longwood,” Brooks also mentioned.
With the Virginia general election coming up on November 2, 2021, the urgency of voting registration served as the primary motivation for the CDLU to spread the word for more students to get involved.
From a historical standpoint, students have voted at lower rates compared to older eligible voters, according to Campus Vote Project. The student demographic also makes an impact on voting turnout with more and more Millenials and Gen Z kids becoming old enough to vote in the past few years alone.
When asked why voting is important to her, Brooks said, “I think it’s really important to vote, especially college students, because as an underrepresented demographic, because a lot of college kids don’t get out to vote. I think it’s really important that our voices are heard in politics, especially when it’s going to affect our future.”
There are multiple dates for Virginia voters to keep up with before the general election arrives. Voters must request an absentee ballot by October 22, 2021. Also, the last day to vote early in-person in Virginia is Oct. 30, 2021.
Apart from promoting the overall importance of voting, the CDLU works as an organization to promote the Democratic party.
“We’re actively, in our club meetings, going to be supporting the Democratic candidates, and we go canvassing and things like that,” said Brooks.
In the one time that Brooks participated in a canvassing event thus far, she explained how members of the group carpooled and went around with pamphlets to put them on people’s doors. Like the voting registration drive, the group canvassed to help more people learn about the voting process, as well as provide information on Democratic candidates.
The CDLU plans to participate in canvassing again on October 23 and 24 in Charlottesville and Farmville respectively to encourage people to vote for Terry McAuliffe for Governor and Hala Ayala for Lt. Governor.
For more information on the College Democrats of Longwood University and their upcoming events, visit this link https://longwoodorgs.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/democrats.
CDLU Members support college student votes at the registration drive.
