By Maristela Romero
Civic engagement groups increased their presence across campus to provide information and resources for casting votes as a last hoorah before the midterm elections Tuesday.
The Student Government Association (SGA) has particularly intensified their efforts through their coalition TerpsVote and by implementing a new initiative: handing out free envelopes and stamps at their office for students to mail in their absentee ballots.
Ro Nambiar, the SGA’s vice president of Student Affairs, said lack of access to send absentee ballots and transportation to polling stations are major deciding factors for whether students will cast their vote.
The SGA addressed the latter by providing early-voting buses for Howard, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in late October.
As of 2016, non-traditional voting methods, like early and absentee voting are steadily increasing and have grown to represent “two in five of all ballots cast,” according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
“I think a lot of students were just…unaware of the fact that absentee ballots exist,” said Nambiar, a senior public health science major. “So I think we did a lot of education and programming around that.”
Gideon Epstein, the director of civic and governmental affairs and the co-chair of TerpsVote, said that the free envelopes were one of the more “cost-effective” ways to encourage students to go out and vote.
“Every time I’m at the SGA office, I see like, literally, five students an hour [asking], ‘where are the stamps and envelopes?’” the junior government and politics major said.
Epstein added that about 250 Terps took advantage of this resource.
He also mentioned that the SGA had significantly more effective collaborations with civic engagement groups like MaryPIRG, PLUMAS, College Democrats and College Republicans than in previous years.
“And I think that’s what the SGA is trying to do in other capacities too, beyond civic engagement is sort of harness the power that student groups have on the campus,” Epstein said.
Rachel Brynien, who registered through TerpsVote for the first time, said she found it to be an easy and appealing process. She emphasized her belief in the importance of voting as an effective means of representation no matter how big or small the election.
“You can’t complain about the government if you don’t vote,” the junior government and politics major said in an email.
In addition to the uptick in student civic engagement on campus by various student groups, Brynien also suggested that the University of Maryland cancel all classes or have dedicated class time on Election Day to encourage more students to vote.