The Election has finally come and gone, and for many it has been an interesting time. There has been a record turnout for the polls this year. Over 42 million people voted early this year and many of those early voters did so by absentee ballot.
An absentee ballot is a ballot that is mailed to you from the place you are registered in the case that you will be absent from the polling place on Election Day. Voters request this kind of ballot for many reasons. Some people vote early or by absentee ballot because they don’t want to feel pressured.
Katherine Waldron, an upperclassman at UMPI and an absentee ballot voter, thinks that voting is a very important American civil right for people of all ages.
“I definitely think it’s important to have voices at all age levels heard, especially our generation, because we’re going to be leading this country in the next few decades,” Waldron said. “All you have to do is call your town office and then they mail it to you. What I love about this is I can get it done ahead of time and be able to avoid the election crows at the polls.”
For those attending college, the absentee ballot is a great thing because many students live on campus hours away from home with some even living completely across the country. Since Election Day fell on Tuesday, October 8, many students had classes and couldn’t go back home to vote.
Alyssa Finlay, a freshman at UMPI and an absentee ballot voter as well, said it’s very important for people to vote by any way possible. She lives on campus and is nearly four hours away from home. It’s her first time voting for president.
“Deciding on who runs the country for the next four, maybe even eight years, is a huge deal,” Finlay said. “This person is the one who’s going to be making a lot of the decisions that affect our country in a positive or negative way.”
Voting by absentee ballot does have its advantages such as avoiding lines and the pressure of voting at a polling location. For college students that can’t go back to their hometown for Election Day, this option gives them the chance to be heard in American politics.
