Columbia Votes led more than a dozen students to the Voter Super Center at 191 N. Clark St. to cast their vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Teddi Karnes, voter genius and sophomore film and television major, said the “Party To The Polls” event sponsored by Columbia Votes was aimed at helping first-time voters.
“There are a lot of first-time voters and a lot of first-time voters who are now voting in a presidential election, which is a really big deal,” Karnes said. “We’ve been getting so many questions about what it looks like to go to the polls, and people being nervous to go to the polls, and people come to the table and express that. So we really wanted to give people a little buddy to walk to the polls with, and so they’re not doing it by themselves.”
Columbia Votes took a group of voters at noon and will take another group at 5 p.m. Students met at the Student Center to walk to the Voter Super Center with representatives of Columbia Votes.
Tyler Harding, a senior film and television major and voter genius, said Columbia Votes organized “Party to the Polls” to have a community event for students to vote together.
“For a lot of students, this is their first time voting. And so we wanted to make the process as easy as possible,” Harding said.
Jaylen Barlow, a transfer senior journalism major and voter genius, said it was important for students to vote today because “Columbia is simply a very diverse community of people from all walks of lives, with different pronouns, sexualities and different genders.”
Students told the Chronicle they discovered the event through social media, Columbia’s Engage app, flyers and friends.
Jordan Watson and Nia Fleury, both sophomore photography majors, came to the event together.
“I know I have to do my part as an American citizen,” Watson said. “What brought me out here is that it made me more comfortable going with other people I know that I could go with to vote. I felt more comfortable doing so.
Fleury agreed and said coming to vote with Columbia Votes was because of “comfortability.”
“This is my first time voting and I think it would be better to do it with people that know what’s going on. This is a really important election, and I didn’t vote last time, so as a 19-year-old now, I wanna use my right to vote,” Fleury said.
Xochitl Marines, a sophomore traditional animation major, said she heard about Columbia Votes through a presentation they gave earlier in the semester about registering to vote. She said although she didn’t register that day, she decided to vote after being encouraged by her teachers.
Zuzanna Zarotynska, a first-year illustration major, said she attended the event because she “wanted to go vote with other people.” She heard about the event through an email from her RA at the Dwight, a residential dorm for first-year students.
“I felt like I would feel more comfortable going with a large group of other students,” Zarotynska said.
Destini Jarvis, a first-year dance major, said she was planning on voting but decided to vote with Columbia Votes after seeing a flyer coming from the gym. She said she had never voted before and wanted to go with people she was “sure someone knows what they’re doing there.”
She said it was important for her to vote once she turned 18 “to be able to have my voice heard in the country.”
“I’m gonna go vote for a candidate that’s supporting my rights because I deserve to be represented,” Jarvis said.
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
Resumen en español
El martes, 5 de noviembre, más de 12 estudiantes se reunieron con “genios votantes” de Columbia Vota a caminar al Súper Centro de Votantes, a 191 N. Clark St., para su evento “Fiesta a las Urnas”. Hicieron el camino dos veces, una al mediodía y otra vez a las 5 de la tarde, con la intención de acompañar a los estudiantes que votaban por primera vez.
Resumen por Sofía Oyarzún
Resumen copia editada por Manuel Nocera
