With the North Carolina primary less than a month away, students have expressed concern over getting to the polls.
On Wednesday, NC State Student Senate passed the Voting Bus Support Act in the Talley Governance Chamber. The bill calls on the university to provide transportation to and from voting locations for students on March 15, the day of the North Carolina primaries. The bus would run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We are supporting the use of buses to make sure students are able to get to the nearest voting location since it is slightly inconvenient to them now,” said Student Sen. Jonathan Riggs, a senior studying animal science.
Currently, the nearest voting location at Pullen Community Center is one mile from Talley Student Union and two miles from Hunt Library on Centennial Campus. The bill points out that it is difficult for students to vote off campus.
The bill also pointed to several studies that support the transportation of students to voting locations. Young voters typically have a greater turnout in presidential election years, and the studies point out that providing transportation incentivizes people to vote.
According to the bill, the 2012 presidential election occurred with 93 percent of the student body registered to vote and 90 percent of those registered went to vote.
Garrett Mills, a junior studying physics, said he was excited at the possibility of a bus for students.
“If the school’s goal is to get more young students to vote, then shuttling them is an excellent idea,” Mills said. “It is a citizen’s right to vote, and it is the public’s responsibility to make polls accessible. If I was a student with no car, I would highly consider utilizing the bus to get to the polls.”
During the meeting, student senators said that NCPIRG and NC State University Transportation have supported the bill.
Student Sen. Logan Graham, a freshman studying political science, said this bill needs to be a reality for students.
“This is to provide students with easy and safe transportation to allow them to do one of the greatest things in American democracy,” Graham said.
At the meeting, Student Senate also passed the Voting Bus Finance Act, which allowed for Student Government’s funding for this transportation. Student Senators pointed out that they will have to try to reach out to other resources to finance this bill.
Student Sen. Nute Thompson, speaking on behalf of the sponsors for the Voting Bus Support Act, said this bill is meant to promote voting rights for students.
“This is a good thing we can do and a step in the right direction towards voting rights here at NC State,” Thompson said.
Student Body President Khari Cyrus must still sign the bill before it can be enacted. Cyrus has 10 class days to sign or veto.
