Voting is a way for the people to express their individual voices in government. With the upcoming midterm elections, students are finding themselves drawn to the voting booths.

Sophomore Anna DuBro, a political science major, expressed her love for voting.

“This election is huge,” DuBro said. “It is really cool to see young people interested in the midterms.”

Elon gives students easy access to voter registration and absentee ballots. Elon Votes allows students to register in North Carolina or out of state. 

Freshman Sarah Talley from Atlanta, Georgia, filled out an absentee ballot. “It was confusing, but it makes sense after [you] do it,” Talley said.

Talley’s first time voting comes at a particularly controversial election year in Georgia. An investigation charged Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, of improperly purging more than 300,000 voter registrations. 

In Georgia, if a voter hasn’t cast a ballot for three years, they are sent a notice asking them to confirm their address. If they do not respond to this notice, they are marked inactive, and if they do not vote for two general elections after that, their registration is removed.

While this is a common practice, according to an analysis by the Palast Investigative Fund, 300,000 of the voters that were removed on the grounds that they moved, still live at the address where they are registered. 

While Talley is frustrated by what is happening in her state, she is inspired by the community’s response. She said she has witnessed those in her community helping voters who have been affected by the voting purge. 

Even though Talley is concerned with the voting scandal in her state, she still feels it is important to vote. 

“I don’t like when you just vote for the incumbent just because,” Talley said. “Vote and look into all the positions. They matter so much.”

DuBro thinks Elon is doing a good job at encouraging voting. She expressed a sentiment of awe at the number of students talking about voting, 

“I feel like we are pretty active, way more than I was expecting,” DuBro said. “People care, and that there is the story.”

Elon encourages students to vote on every platform through Elon Votes. Students can find information on their election and check their registration on the Elon Votes website.

Elon is also offering bus shuttles to the poll booths on Nov. 6 for students. This bus schedule can also be found on the Elon Votes website. 

“Why wouldn’t you vote?” Talley said. “You don’t lose anything, and it’s kind of why we made America. It’s what we’re based on.”