If you’ve entered Peirce Dining Hall in the last few weeks, you’ve definitely seen the group of Kenyon students volunteering to register other students to vote. Firstly, I want to applaud their efforts—registering people to vote is not an easy or unimportant task, especially because the millennial age group is often the least likely to vote.
However, if you’re like me, you’ve already registered to vote in your home state. You’ve got a mail-away ballot coming to your PO Box in November. You have no interest in registering in the state of Ohio—and that’s fine. Yet, the student volunteers often don’t understand that, and that is why I have some qualms with them. Whenever I pass by them in Peirce, the dialogue usually goes as follows:
“Hey! Are you registered to vote?”
“Yes, but not in Ohio,” I respond.
They give me a puzzled look. “Oh, where are you voting?”
“Tennessee.”
“Oh. Are you sure you don’t want to register here?” they ask. This is usually accompanied by a wrinkled nose and scrunched brows as if I’ve made a terrible mistake and haven’t realized I could easily rectify it.
“Yep, I’m good.”
While this conversation may seem tame, others have had far more difficult conversations with the volunteers. Other students have been told that their state “isn’t as important as Ohio,” or that their “vote doesn’t count,” especially in states such as California, Vermont, or Arizona.
I went through a similar incident last semester, back when I was actually considering voting in Ohio for convenience’s sake. As one of the volunteers handed me a form, they asked where I was from. When I responded, she took the form back, looked me up-and-down desperately and said, “You’re not voting Republican, are you?”
In my opinion, that was a completely inappropriate question to ask, but her reaction was even more concerning due to her suggesting that she would refuse me a voter registration form based on my geographical location or assumed political party affiliation. She was wrong on both counts, by the way: I will vote for Hillary in the 2016 election. (#ImWithHer) I would have voted for her regardless of whether Donald Trump was running. I wanted Hillary to win the 2008 nomination against Obama. Trust me, I’ve Been With Her for longer than most!
This volunteer’s dismissal of my home state last year helped me make the decision to vote—proudly and happily—for Hillary Clinton in Tennessee. A lot of people might say that it’s a lost cause to vote Democrat in a state that is generally won by Republicans. In most election years, I would say they’re correct. But this year is a different ball game.
Many of the Republican students I went to high school with will not be voting for Donald Trump. Many people I talked with this summer are frantic about the potential of a Trump presidency. They’re not happy about it, but they’re highly considering voting for Hillary.
Many individuals, and therefore many states, that may never have gone blue before are seeming to take a more and more liberal bent with every foot Donald Trump sticks in his mouth. States with large concentrations of millennials, cities, and universities are more likely to vote Democrat than ever before.
While I’m not holding a tremendous amount of hope that Tennessee will go blue, it’s also a year where a few rightly placed votes can make a difference. Personally, I see my votes being, if not more powerful, somewhat more important in Tennessee—a place where the line between Democrat and Republican is becoming smaller and smaller due to the cities and amount of millennial voting power.
Additionally, when you vote in your state, you’re not just voting for the presidential candidate, but on local and state matters—places where you or your family pay taxes. Your voice deserves to be heard in a place where your tax dollars are being spent. If that’s Ohio, more power to you. Personally, my family’s taxes go in large part to the state of Tennessee, and I want to be sure that my voice is reflected there. I wouldn’t feel comfortable electing local and state officials in Ohio because I don’t know their platforms, ideals, or characters. I’d just be blind-voting and I think that can be really dangerous.
This dismissal of widely-contested state issues from this election, such as the replacement of Governor Mike Pence with Democrat John Gregg in Indiana to resolve the absolute mess that Pence has made of human rights, removes the day-to-day issues from the voter’s control. It also indicates a lack of understanding from those who live in Democrat-dominated states where there may be more at stake than the presidency for other students (even though Trump is the biggest domestic threat to the United States in a long time).
Personally, the mayor of Memphis does a lot more that affects the city than any POTUS ever has, and therefore, when I vote, I’m keeping the local in mind along with the national.
I’m not asking the Kenyon volunteers to stop registering people. I want people to vote, desperately. It’s the one power that we have as citizens of this country. I’m asking the Kenyon volunteers to remove the judgement. Let students register where they want, vote for who they want and respect their right not to tell you about any of their political bindings. That’s how we have democracy.
Image credits: rawconservative.com, cohio.com, electionsatrisk.org