Voters across Pennsylvania headed to the polls this Tuesday for the 2023 election, including many Villanova students. Living in Pennsylvania for the majority of the year, University students decided to make an impact on how the state functions by heading to the polls. In this year’s election, students enacted their civic duties by voting for local and state candidates.
Municipal elections happen in odd years, and the races that appear on the ballots cover the Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court candidates. While it isn’t a presidential year, voting in this election directly impacts pressing issues that elected officials handle, such as education reform, environmental policy and abortion.
Students chose to make their voices heard this year by figuring out their voting locations and making the effort to get there on Tuesday.
“It’s my second year voting,” freshman Liam Mote said. “Being from Pennsylvania makes it even more seamless. I was already registered, so the only next steps were to figure out my polling place and make a plan to get there.”
Freshman Paulina Sierra had a different experience while registering to vote. Sierra was let down by her first time voting and did not make it to the polls.
“I wasn’t really aware of the Pennsylvania deadlines, but it ended up being a disappointing first voting experience seeing as I was unable to get registered here,” Sierra said.
Being from Connecticut, a state with the option for same-day voter registration, Sierra did not know that Pennsylvania had a different registration policy. Needing to register prior to Oct. 23 for this election year, many out-of-state students shared Sierra’s experience.
“The presidential election next year definitely won’t go this way. I will be sure to get ahead of things and register early,” Sierra said.
#Let’sVoteNova, a student-run organization, has partnered with the Student Government Association, Office of Student Involvement, as well as the Office of Government Relations and External Affairs to make election day as accessible as possible.
“Voting on this college campus can be especially tricky,” Hally Ammons, Assistant Director for Government and Community Relations, said. “With some housing on campus being split into four separate polling places, turning to #Let’sVoteNova as a tool helps students’ voting experiences go much smoother.”
This year, the #Let’sVoteNova initiative worked to set up transportation out of the Connelly Center circle, shuttling students to their polling places and providing crucial information for first-time voters. #Let’sVoteNova shared what items to bring, ways to find your polling place and other support services to help students have an effortless election day. And it only seems to be getting easier from here.
“With the newest census, Radnor Township has a proposal for reapportioning Villanova,” Ammons said. “[This] would mean cutting down the district amount from the current four down to just two, furthering student accessibility for election day.”
Election day proves to have resulted in many successes and frustrations for University students, but with aid from Redistricting Commissioners and student initiatives alike, future voting days will prove to be nothing other than triumphant.
For more information on #Let’sVoteNova, visit https://www1.villanova.edu/university/student-life/student-involvement/vote.html. For posts, follow @letsvotenova on Instagram. To get in contact with the Office of Government Relations & External Affairs, reach out to Hally Ammons at [email protected], as well as check out www.villanova.edu/neighbors and www.facebook.com/NovaNeighbors for updates. To get in touch with supporters of #Let’sVoteNova, the Office of Student Involvement can be found in room 102 of Dougherty Hall or via email [email protected], as well as the Student Government Association at [email protected].
