University of California, Irvine (UCI) Vote Centers in the Student Center and University Hills Community Center were open from Nov. 2 through Nov. 5 to increase accessibility for students to vote.
A ballot drop box on campus also opened on Oct. 7 and was available until Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. Eighty-five percent of eligible UCI students voted in the 2020 election, surpassing every other University of California school, according to University of California.
“I think it is very helpful because students may not have transportation to get to faraway centers, and they might not have the means to vote in their home, so it’s very important to have the opportunity to come to vote,” UCI vote center lead and Orange County Registrar of Voters representative Elena Marukhlenko said. “It’s important for everyone, not only college students, and I think it’s nice that UCI did this for us. I think it’s working pretty well.”
Throughout the last few months, the UCI Office of Civic Engagement worked to promote voter registration and engagement on campus through promotional videos, signs and posters, according to UCI student and Portola High alumnus Gabe Mutsvangwa, who studies political science.
Democratic State Senator Dave Min even came to the UCI campus and spoke directly to students about his campaign for the House of Representatives, according to UCI student and Portola High alumnus Skyller Liu.
“I think it’s important for younger Americans, especially college students, to actively vote because it’s part of your political participation, and it’s one of the important responsibilities that you do have as a citizen of America,” Liu said. “I’m in Political Theory as one of my classes, and one of the topics we were talking about is how one of the core features of a democracy is the ability for citizens to vote on political matters, and one of the ways you can measure the strength of a democracy is the voter turnout of the citizens.”
While many upperclassmen at Portola High are still not of age to vote, students can take the time now to stay updated with current events and inform themselves of the election process, according to Mutsvangwa.
“Young people tend to be underrepresented in the primaries, and that’s what leads to why we have candidates that people tend to complain about, and also, young people just unfortunately tend to be uninformed about politics,” Mutsvangwa said. “I would urge students now to probably just listen to podcasts. It’s pretty easy for me. I listen to The Daily on the drive to school. It gives me 30 minutes to just understand the world news.”
Donald Trump won the presidential election with 295 of the Electoral College votes as of Nov. 7.
