Pack the Polls Guest Column Graphic
If you read nothing else, just know this: Early voting is available at Talley Student Union from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2 for Wake County voters. If you need to update your registration, you can do so with same-day registration. You will find a wide range of events, information and resources at the Pack the Polls website, and if you have more specific questions about logistics and eligibility, look to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Can I vote if I’m an out-of-state student? How do I check to see if I’m registered? How do I know who’s even running and what they stand for? These are just a few of the hundreds of questions that I’ve been asked and answered as a member of the Pack the Polls Ambassadors.
For four years now, I’ve been helping folks around NC State get the information and resources they need to be informed voters. Pack the Polls is a nonpartisan student organization under the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement. We aim to promote voter information and civic engagement on campus by developing and delivering events centered around voter information, our signature voter workshops, various presentations, tabling and more.
Over the years, I’ve probably spoken with hundreds, if not thousands, of students about how they can become more engaged in the electoral process. Now, serving as one of the co-leaders of the group, we’ve been able to develop some exciting events and partnerships with other groups in the community. We do all of this because we truly believe that voting and being civically engaged is one of the most important things anyone can do to maintain a democracy that is truly representative and works for everyone.
In keeping with this, we are excited to announce that we have a plethora of events and resources to share with the Wolfpack community.
One of our signature events is our voting toolkit workshops. These workshops have been developed by our graduate assistant Miroslava Colan, my fellow co-leader Millie Walkenhorst, myself and numerous other members of our team. They are a one-stop shop for just about anything you’d want to know about voting and are especially helpful for first-time voters. We currently have two more of these workshops scheduled for Oct. 24 and 30, and more information can always be found on our website.
Another new event that we’re excited about is on Oct. 17 and is our City of Raleigh Candidates Living Room Conversations. Thanks to the hard work of Pack the Polls, many of the candidates for Raleigh City Council have agreed to come to campus to have what we call “living room conversations.”
These are structured conversations around all kinds of important issues designed specifically to allow each person to understand each others’ perspectives and think in ways they might not have before. We believe this will be a fantastic opportunity for students to get to know the people who are running for offices in local government, positions that have a high impact on our day-to-day lives.
For any resources that you may need to learn more about voter registration, candidates who are running in your precinct, upcoming deadlines and really anything else, be sure to check out the Pack the Polls website. If you have more specific questions, be sure to reach out to us and we’d be happy to help.
If you want to share these resources with a class or organization, we do presentations that can be specially catered towards your group. You will see our ambassadors tabling around campus and at different events leading up to Election Day, so again, please feel free to come talk with us.
Thanks to the work and advocacy of the Pack the Polls Ambassadors, Talley Student Union will serve as an early voting site from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2. The dedicated people running these polls are specifically trained to help NC State students successfully cast their ballots. For anything else, look to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The resources and opportunities are there for you to have your voice be heard. Everyone knows about the stereotype that young people don’t vote, so I challenge you to break that norm and set a new precedent that our generation does care and won’t be pushed around. I know that getting into politics might be intimidating, but it’ll all be easier if we do it together. See you at the polls, Wolfpack.