From Student’s to Doctors, Kent State Plays a Pivotal Role in Registering Voters Across Ohio

Ky Kalinowski October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 0 Comments

Across Ohio, efforts to register voters for the November 2020 election come to an end at 9 p.m., Monday October 5th. At Kent State University, students and faculty alike have made efforts in Kent and the surrounding communities to encourage citizens to use their right to vote.

“It’s not a matter of us backing any sort of initiative or any sort of political party. We just want everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and take advantage of the right to vote… people died for this right. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,” said Cynthia Williams, Director of Public Relations for Kent State University Libraries.

Kent State University Libraries have taken on the unique challenge that COVID-19 has presented by still working to register as many student voters as possible online, as well as in person as safely as possible.

“In the past and hopefully in the future, we have been able to sign people up in-person but given the COVID circumstances, that is kind of difficult,” said Williams.

Williams stressed that though Kent State has no particular political affiliation, it has a rich history of encouraging students to use their right to vote and President Todd Diacon will be speaking on this issue soon. The website https://libguides.library.kent.edu/voting will also be updated to inform students who are registered on how to inform themselves and cast their vote.

It is not just Kent State University faculty that is encouraging voting, as numerous student groups, as well as individuals have taken action to register voters. Kent State student government has been active in working with the university as well as the Portage County Board of Elections.

One student who has taken it upon themselves to encourage citizens to vote is Trevor Boggess. He is a sophomore at Kent State as well as a volunteer at Summa Health Center in Akron, Ohio.

“I’m big on, ‘I think everyone should vote,'” said Boggess.

Boggess, who normally volunteers in the emergency department said though COVID was challenging, it presented him with a unique opportunity to continue gaining experience as well as fulfilling his passion for politics.

“Yeah, it was for volunteer hours but when COVID hit they did not have any ideas for us, so I suggested we register people to vote. If they didn’t take that I’m not sure I’d still have the internship,” said Boggess.

Boggess tabled for 3 different days at SummaHealth in Akron and says that he registered around 90 people in total, most of which were doctors who had just recently moved in to start their practice in Ohio.

Tuesday, November 3rd is the date of the 2020 election. The deadline to register is tonight at 9 p.m.. Register to vote here if you have not already: https://vote.gov.