Student leaders push voter registration

Florida A&M University Men’s basketball players march to the voting booths. Photo Courtesy: FAMU Men’s Basketball Twitter

At the “Reclaim Your Vote” event on Saturday, Student Government President Zachary Bell urged students residing in Tallahassee to register and cast their ballots. According to Bell, the decisions made by local politicians impact students’ rent and quality of life while living in Florida’s capital.

For students in Tallahassee, voting is crucial because local decisions concerning students like rent, tuition, and tax-paying dollars all affect our everyday lives.

Students are discovering that they want to be heard about the difficulties they’re facing but are unaware that they should vote in municipal elections. To ensure that our demands are satisfied, we must elect leaders with college students’ best interests at heart.

These circumstances have sparked discussions and increased interest in politics among students on college campuses.

When we pay to live here, we should be treated like every other citizen, but this isn’t the case in Tallahassee, which is disheartening for college students.

Students who are already registered to vote should re-register locally because decisions made while residing in Tallahassee directly affect them rather than those made in their hometown.

“You can always switch your voter registration back to your home state, but for the time being you are impacted by whatever occurs in Tallahassee, being that you’re a resident and paying taxes here,” Jewel Crouch said.

It would be much simpler for us if we elected people in office to assist us with these issues who are knowledgeable about it and actively looking to help people when it comes to these things rather than having people who are not in the interest of us.

Many students complain about the lack of housing, the expensive cost of off-campus housing, and the bad living conditions on social media.

It was puzzling to learn that a group of college students who recently complained about their living situations on social media were not registered to vote. It seems as if they anticipated twitter to fix their living conditions. The individuals who need to hear our complaints are those who represent us locally, so complaining to friends, on social media, and through gossip isn’t always beneficial. As a result, we must do our research, choose a strong candidate, and vote accordingly.

Devan M. Vilfrard, Former Florida NAACP Y&C President from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says this is the time for college students to make a change.

“It is important to vote where you lay your head because when you wake up the issues and laws are directly affecting you because this is where you’re currently at,” Vilfrard said. “This is our chance to speak up. What’s the point of complaining if you’re not going to use the voting process to see the change you would like to see.”

Students can register to vote online at https://registertovoteflorida.gov/home