By: Sam Barrett

Midterm elections are coming up and, for some college students, that could mean struggling to get a ballot in on time. 

Students from Maryand may have an easier time placing their vote than out of state students. Feriel Friloux, a junior Arabic major from Rockville, is planning to go home to cast their vote in this year’s midterm elections.

“I feel like it’s a very essential part of you know being a Marylander, or just you know, being a citizen in general,” they said. 

However, for some students, going home is not an option. Cammy Cort, a freshman politics, philosophy and economics major, is from Ohio. She is considering requesting a mail-in-ballot. 

“I’m out of state, but I can still have my voice heard in Ohio,” she said. 

Other students may be  unsure of how they will  place their vote. Oliver Smith, a freshman marketing major from Boston, says he is excited to vote in his first election but does not have a voting plan. 

“I’ll figure it out as I go,” he said. 

Campus organizations like the TerpsVote Coalition are teaching students how to place their vote. TerpsVote provides students with resources on how to register to vote and how to request a mail-in-ballot. Their website also has information on candidates running in Maryland. 

According to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, around 70 percent of all UMD students and around 84 percent of registered UMD students voted in the 2020 presidential election. 

However, midterm elections tend to have notoriously lower turnout than presidential election years. In 2016, 19 percent of UMD students voted for the midterm elections, a stark contrast to the 60.7 percent who voted in the presidential elections.

Absentee or mail-in-ballots have become more popular for UMD students in recent years. In 2018, 42 percent of UMD voters used a form of voting that would allow them to be absent on election day. In 2020, 82 percent of voters did the same. 

Mail-in-ballot requirements can differ in every state. In Maryland, a mail-in-ballot can be requested online with any valid form of Maryland ID. To receive their ballot over the internet, voters must send their electronic application by Friday, Nov. 4. All mail ballots must be received by 10 a.m. on Nov. 8. For other states, however, deadlines may be different. Information on how to request a mail-in-ballot for other states can be found on Vote.org.

Photo courtesy of TerpVote.