How are Students Planning to Vote in the Upcoming Election?

Image Courtesy of Reuters

By Zachary Lichter

The 2024 Presidential Election is just over a week away, and many students on campus will be voting for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump. For many students, this will be the first presidential election they will vote in. However, any senior born before November 3, 2002, could have voted in the 2020 presidential election 18 years later when former Vice President Joe Biden defeated President Trump, making this election the second election in which they would vote.

Election Day 2024 will not be a typical voting day for students who attend the Catholic University of America. Why? Students who don’t live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia won’t have the opportunity to go to a polling place and vote.

Instead, they will have to register to vote online on their state’s website, request an absentee ballot, and mail it before November 5 of this year, just in time for the 2024 Presidential Election. 

Ethan Strohmetz, a senior politics major, commented on the challenges of voting away from home.

“A challenge students have with voting away from home is figuring out how to register to vote or request a mail-in ballot,” Strohmetz said. “It can be a daunting task as not all state government websites are easily navigable. Because some students see it as a hassle, many just put it off and do not remember to put in the request for a ballot.”

To make the process smoother, CUA’s Student Government Association (SGA) research director, Matthew Cutrona, a senior political science major, created an initiative called “Voting Away from Home 101.” This initiative allows students, faculty, and staff to still participate in voting in their home state while on campus. 

All they need to do is look for the email SGA sent on October 3 of this year, click on the PDF for the ”Voting Away from Home 101 Initiative,” and then look for their home state. Once they find their home state, they can see all the information they need to know to vote.

Information for each state and territory includes the deadline to request a mail-in ballot, when they must fill it out, and the general election date. Cutrona also included information on registering to vote in each state, how the mail-in ballot works for each state, and other resources that he hyperlinked. He also included links that direct students to the right pages where they can fill out the information they need to vote.

Cutrona commented on why he made this initiative.

“The thought of this initiative started in July when I met with President Lance, because he noted to me that it was the SGA tradition to aid the student body in taking part in the national presidential election,” Cutrona said. “With 2020 being the COVID year, 2024 offered a unique opportunity to restructure how best to start this initiative, and after many conversations and research, I felt that attending The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, it was our duty to do something like this.”

The initiative has made voting more accessible for students, faculty, and staff. Cutrona noted that he received positive feedback from all of them, and that the initiative had allowed them to register to vote and participate in voting for the new president of the United States.

Strohmetz commented on how he plans to vote in this year’s presidential election.

“I plan on voting via absentee ballot,” Strohmetz said. “It is much easier to request an absentee ballot and mail in my vote than to plan out going back home just for Election Day and coming back afterwards.”

Whether someone votes for Vice President Harris, former President Trump, or someone else, they will have a say in who they want as their next president. All Americans have a voice in who they want to run their government, and it’s important that their voices will be heard on November 5, 2024. 

Cutrona commented on why voting in the 2024 Presidential Election is important.

“Voting expresses your voice in the town square and alerts to society what you want to be done for the betterment of the republic,” Cutrona said. “Of note, the 2024 presidential election has shown the need for every voice to be heard and vote casted in an effort to establish a more perfect union.”