Ball State voter engagement project registers college students to vote

To celebrate National Voter Registration Day, a Ball State University project, Cardinals Vote!, encouraged students to register to vote in this November’s election.  As IPR’s Daniel Huber reports, the effort hopes to encourage more civic engagement among college students.

A poster reading “Register to vote, get a root beer float!” greets college students as they gather in line to become registered voters.

Second-year student Payton Smith registered at the event.

“You know what, I’ll register now.  The presidential election is coming up.  So, why not?”

Read More: Ball State begins student voter engagement campaign that wants Cardinals to vote

Smith said her biggest concern is the inflation rate.

“I really am a money person.  I don’t like having big taxes on, like, my gas and everything.”

Some were registered before the event, like first-year student Eli Slater.  They said that gender-affirming care for minors is their most important issue, as they had access to it when they were 16, yet Indiana banned it last year.

“Honestly,” they said, “that’s, like, one of the most life-changing pieces of healthcare that I had.”

Read More: Young voters gather at the Anderson Impact Center

Others didn’t realize they weren’t registered, like third-year Isaac Poetz.

“Uh, well, I just saw the root beer here,” Poetz said, “and I thought I already was registered, but then it turns out I wasn’t. So, I just need to register now.”

Poetz’s main concern during this election is immigration policy and its facilities.

“However they actually handle how people come over is one thing, but what I definitely want to see end is the detention facilities in the way that they are.”

The new generation of voters is here, and they’ll vote with other registered voters on or before November 5.  The deadline to register to vote in Indiana is October 7.

Daniel Huber is a news fellow with Ball State Public Media’s Public Media Accelerator student fellowships.