Voting booths on campus to increase student involvement
Civic awareness continues at USU as three voting booths are brought to the Taggart Student Center in an effort to encourage students to get involved in the voting process.
The electronic voting booths were made possible by ASUSU Executive Vice President Troy Smith and a bill that recently passed allowing voting to begin two weeks before the official election day. Prior to the bill, all voting for the general election had to take place on Nov. 7 at specific locations based on which district residents were from, making it a more difficult process, Smith said.
This year, however, Smith contacted the county clerk, who provided the machines for Wednesday through Friday afternoon. Students, faculty or administrators registered in any of the five Logan city districts can vote from the same TSC location.
Smith said many people have told him the voting booths made voting more convenient.
Doug Ball, a freshman majoring in physics, said a college campus is a great place for students to vote because “this is where they get involved.”
The on-campus stations located outside of the TSC Auditorium serve as a reminder to vote to hundreds of students a day, he said, and should make a drastic difference in the number students who make it to the polls.
“If we’re going to grow as a nation, I think students need to have the opportunity to vote,” said Nick Ball, a sophomore majoring in business administration, international business and economics.
He said he has gone to voting stations before, but taking time off school or work to drive to voting locations during limited operating hours makes it difficult.
“I find it hard,” he said.
When the polls closed Thursday at 3 p.m., 250 people had voted A-Team member Kevin Crouch said.
USU ranked second in the state this year in its voter registration effort in September, placing behind Utah Valley State College, Smith said.
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