Education, and Democracy On Campus

According to the Fair Election Center’s Campus Votes Project, young adults historically have voted at lower rates than older cohorts. Why? They face many obstacles to voting, including frequent address changes, confusing voter ID laws, and lack of transportation to polling locations, among other things. That’s why there are efforts at Otterbein to educate student voters about the voting process and to remove those obstacles that might prevent them from practicing their civic rights.

Peer-to-Peer Outreach

BY GRACE SIMS ’25 Sociology, Psychology, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies triple major; CardinalCorps Co-Leader of Raise Your Voice; and Democracy Fellow*

*Note: Democracy Fellows are selected by the Campus Vote Project of the Fair Elections Center. Democracy Fellows talk to their peers about registering to vote, educate them on election laws and what’s on the ballot, and make sure students at their campus are ready to engage with democracy. Fellows implement programs on each of their campuses that will remain long after they graduate and make an impact on students for years to come.

Civic engagement is not only our right as U.S. citizens, but also an essential component of our democratic process, and education is a crucial part of every person’s voting journey.

From local issues to state elections and, this year, the presidential election, voters will be presented with a lot of information in November. So it is essential that they submit their vote, confident that they understand their ballots. After all, our vote has a variety of real-world outcomes that impact everyone from college students to families and retirees.

These outcomes matter to young people, who have been making their voices heard in increasing numbers. Young voters had record turnout in the 2020 and 2022 elections and Otterbein students have been no different. In 2020, Otterbein students registered to vote and then voted at higher rates than the national average and at a higher percentage than previous classes at Otterbein. Raise Your Voice, Otterbein’s non-partisan, student-run, voter education group, hopes to continue this legacy and improve our registration rate and voting rate in 2024.

Raise Your Voice has hosted events throughout the semester including on national civic holidays such as National Voter Registration Day (Sept. 17), National Voter Education Week (Oct. 7-10), and Vote Early Day (Oct. 29) to bring students together to learn about and celebrate the voting process.

At past events, students have enjoyed casting a mock ballot with the Franklin County Board of Elections, Q&As with local politicians, and discussions with various community partners including the League of Women Voters and Rank The Vote.

As a Democracy Fellow and college student, I recognize the apathy and dispiritedness prevalent among my fellow college students when it comes to voting. It is vital for me to educate my peers on the importance of not only voting in November, but voting down the ballot in an educated, informed, and confident manner. You can see our action plans, awards, and voting achievements at allinchallenge.org/campuses/otterbein-university.

In the Classroom

BY LEESA J. KERN, PH.D. associate professor, Department of Sociology, Criminology and Justice Studies

Many students are like me when I was in college. Traveling home to vote was impossible. I didn’t know how absentee ballots worked. I didn’t know how to find useful information about candidates and issues — well before social media and the Internet. To combat this, in 2008 I approached a colleague in History and Political Science, and we developed a Senior Year Experience course, “High Stakes: The 2008 Presidential Election.”

This year’s election has already had its share of twists and turns, but in many ways the challenges facing new voters are similar to those in 2008. Today we have access to a great deal more information, but it is harder to know what is “good information.” Students can be wary of asking questions or sharing ideas in a climate where discussion can become divisive.

The goal of my class is to help students navigate:

• practical aspects of elections, like how to register to vote and where to go;
• informational aspects, including where to find information about candidates and issues, and what the “down ballot” races are;
• educational aspects, including what the electoral process is and how we get candidates; and increasingly
• the relational aspects, talking with people who disagree with you and understanding where your own viewpoints come from.

Civic engagement is not only our right as U.S. citizens, but also an essential component of our democratic process, and education is a crucial part of every person’s voting journey.

In class, we will learn together how to talk about poli tical issues with respect and compassion.

If I’ve done my job right, they won’t be able to tell which candidate I have voted for. (In years past, I’ve been really successful at that!)

My hope is that they take away a new appreciation for the importance of participatory democracy. I hope they understand how their education allowed them to cultivate the skills to collect, evaluate, and use information. And lastly, I hope they aspire to maintain respectful dialogue and participation in any political setting.