“Your Voice, Your Vote: Election 2018” Involves Students in Midterm Elections

Salem State University’s Center for Civic Engagement has planned numerous events centered around the 2018 Elections including panel discussions, a voter registration party, and a mock election. “Your Voice, Your Vote: Election 2018” will take place from September to November.

Titled, Your Voice, Your Vote: Election 2018 and subtitled, What’s at Stake? Our Rights, Our Liberties Film, Speaker and Engagement Series, the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) takes a three-pronged approach to election programming. This includes: voter registration, election education and a large get out the vote effort. 

In the 2014 Salem State had a 25.1 percent voting rate and in the 2016 Presidential Election, the university had a 65.2 percent voting rate, well above the 50.4 percent national average, according to a national study on college student voting that included over 1100 campuses nationally.

“College students have the potential to be a powerful voting bloc in this fall’s election. Through education, encouragement, and empowerment when our students cast their vote they will be exercising their voice in the political process and hopefully forming a habit that will last a lifetime,” said Cynthia Lynch, director of the Center for Civic Engagement.

The Center for Civic Engagement is the nexus for community-based initiatives and civically-engaged learning at Salem State University. Established as part of the university’s strategic plan to promote civic engagement, social justice and connection to place, it is responsible for developing and supporting programs that connect students, faculty, staff, and alumni to the greater community. Through reciprocal collaborations designed to address public issues and enhance academic learning, the center promotes the importance of community involvement and the privileges and responsibilities inherent in civic participation.