With election season approaching, a competition between schools for the most students registered to vote has been announced.
The announcement was made by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, as a way to get more students registered for the upcoming Presidential election.
“I’m excited to announce the 2024 Campus Voter Registration Challenge – a friendly, nonpartisan competition between state campus rivals to see who can register the most eligible students to vote and request their absentee ballots for the Presidential Election,” Benson said in an announcement. “Get registered now and let the games begin! ”
In a statement published by Ferris, it was announced that Ferris would be competing against Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University for who can get the most students registered.
The Director of Career and Professional Success Angela Roman has been tabling for registration, as a hope to get more students involved in the election process.
“The most asked question is how does a student find out if they are registered to vote and where,” Roman said. “Once they see how it easy it is to check their status and make changes, they are happy and ready for election day.”
Roman also explained that students are able to check their registration status on the voter information page of the State of Michigan website.
Staff members aren’t the only ones who have been working the registration tables. Math and Spanish junior Edgar Santiago-Rivera has been helping out at the tables as a part of his student fellowship.
“I feel like it’s pretty good that we’re having a little rivalry, like a little competition for get a vote and just see is very wonderful, wonderful the same people like just getting out there to vote and just getting out there register as well,” Santiago-Rivera said. “And like I want to, I want us to win, of course, but it is very nice to see, like, campuses getting involved and just getting people to register, and also potentially getting them to vote.”
Santiago-Rivera has found that with the tabling, students have been asking about the QR codes with hopes to help support Ferris in the competition.
In addition, he has also been helping educate students on the process of voting.
“I’m with Campus Vote Project, a national wide project by fair elections, which has the end to the goal is to have campuses that have lack of resources here, like here, because there’s not a lot of voting engagement,” Santiago Rivera said. “Last year, I learned just through zoom, but also through classes, how to really have voter engagement increase on campus. We’re doing tabling, and we’re getting people to the balls, like, this upcoming November, but also getting to, getting them to register, to get absentee ballots right now early voting.”
If students are interested in participating the competition ends on Oct. 21.Students who are interested in learning more about voter registration can visit tabling events throughout this month, as well as several people who will be around campus asking students if they have voted