All across America, people are casting their ballots for this year’s election, set to take place on Nov. 3. As of the week prior to the election, over 75 million Americans had already taken advantage of early voting.
Pre-Election Day voting has proved to be very successful across the nation, with most states reporting climbing the ladder with record-breaking turnouts. Voters have been motivated by being able to vote by mail and even early in person before November.
Several states have implemented many ways that registered voters could come out and vote early with little to no hassle. The University of Tennessee is one of many that took an initiative to improve the voter turnout rate and to get people to the polls early.
The Student Government Association centered the 2020 early voting days at the Howard Baker Center under the ‘Vols Vote’ campus-wide initiative. This designated committee is represented by all corners of the campus.
Associate Director for HBC Public Policy Dr. Katie Cahill shared how important it is that the student voice, specifically from SGA, was represented during the planning process of early voting at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center.
“The planning process for 2020 began in June, but we have been working on voting more generally every year with each election season. For 2020, the coalition met once a week to discuss voter education, registration and our early voting plans on campus,” Cahill said.
“The effort would not have been possible without the dedication of all members of the coalition and the leadership of the Chancellor.”
Karmen Jones, senior in English rhetoric and Africana Studies, as well as SGA president, shared her role in making sure this ran as smoothly as possible.
“My role in the planning process was to advocate for early voting days and increased capacity to the Knox County Election Commission, and also get our students to collectively go to the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center to vote,” Jones said.
Every year the Howard Baker Center receives phone calls from the university community about where to vote. This year, the HBC board of directors and SGA made sure that that UT students, staff and faculty knew the answer was right on campus.
The Student Government Association sent out a sign-up sheet challenging all student organizations, faculty and staff departments to vote as a unit on designated days. SGA knew the direction they wanted things to go, and after much preparation and proper execution, it was a success.
Students signed up and showed up in large collective numbers.
For the Student Government Association, it was not just about getting students, staff and organizations into these physical spaces. They worked on centering and planning events, as well as developing a clear language that made it easy for students to vote in all online spaces as well.
More than 4,000 people voted at the center for early voting, with hopes of seeing similar levels turn out on Election Day. On Election Day, the center is the voting location for anyone who is registered to vote at a university residence hall, with the exception of Laurel, Fraternity Park and Sorority Village.
If you missed voting early, you will have to vote at your designated precinct on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
So far, there has been a high voter turnout. Jones expressed that she hopes that she and the other members of the Student Government Association have paved the way to be able to use the Thompson-Boiling Arena in the future.
With that access, they hope to find more creative ways to increase the Volunteer voter turnout in the years to come.
