By Kaili Cochran, General Assignment Reporter
UNF on-campus organizations provided individual booths on the green Sept 17. to promote National Voter Registration Day to students.
The Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement set up a booth where students could register to vote and decorate a tote bag. They also gave free snacks and a pocket-sized constitution to students who stopped by.
Susan Trudeau, the assistant director of OSLCE, said students can actively get updates on new voting events hosted by OSLCE and even win prizes through their student engagement app, Osprey Vote.
“We also try really hard in our office to provide educational opportunities that are open to all students, regardless of their voter status,” Trudeau said.
With points they earn through different activities, students can win prizes from the UNF bookstore, local restaurants and larger national vendors, according to Trudeau.
Hannah Wehrung, a UNF student, helped run the OSLCE booth on Tuesday. She hopes the office’s events will help students get involved this election season.
“We find it very important to encourage everyone to register to vote civically and to engage volunteers when we can,” Wehrung said.
The UNF College Democrats partnered with another organization, People Power for Florida, for students passing by on the green. Their booth consisted of pro-Democratic merch—stickers, buttons, signs— a voter registration sign-up sheet and free pizza.
Jalen Echenique is a UNF student and the Secretary of UNFCD who helped run the organization’s booth on Tuesday.
Echenique said that the number of older voters usually outweighs the number of college-aged voters, impacting the election.
“We need to mobilize young voters, particularly in this election,” Echenique said. “The rights on the line disproportionately impact many young people; housing, reproductive rights, and higher education are pertinent to young voters.”
Alex Mendoza-Hernandez, a UNF student and UNFCD’s press secretary, also participated at the booth on Tuesday.
Mendoza-Hernandez has a similar viewpoint on the significance of the young vote.
“During the midterms, I did not see many young people voting. They were mostly inactive and not really interested in it,” Mendoza-Hernandez said.
“But this election, I’m seeing a lot more young engagement, and I think that that’s important to ensure that we actually have a government representing our population.”
Students can learn more about how to get involved this election season at unf.edu/oslce.
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