Bears at the Ballot aided students in preparing to vote by helping them register to vote, checking voter registration status and providing practice with voting machines Nov. 29 in the Ronnie Williams Student Center lobby.

“College students are part of a rapidly growing voter bloc that has the potential to have a huge voice in our elections,” Lesley Graybeal, director of experiential and community-engaged learning, said.

Laura Wiles, election coordinator for Faulkner County, said practicing with the machines will prepare students for the 2024 primary elections, which will be March 5, with early voting beginning Feb. 20. 

“I think any opportunity that we have to let the public and voters use the system and see the system before election day just helps make people more comfortable and more familiar with the voting process,” Wiles said.

Graybeal said students need to be prepared by knowing how to use the machines and also by knowing what they’ll be voting on. 

“Students will have to choose whether they want the Republican ballot or the Democratic ballot, and there’ll be voting for the candidates for those partisan offices,” Graybeal said. “If you chose the Republican ballot, you would be choosing who will be the Republican candidate for president in November. Then there will also be state and local elections on there, but they’re all primary elections, which means it’s the party determining who their candidate in the general election will be.”

Junior Abby Thompson said, “I’ve never actually voted before, so I was excited to see what it would actually be like when I do go vote next year. 

“It was very cool. I definitely feel less anxiety for when I actually go next year and it was fairly simple, so I’m happy about that,” Thompson said.

Sophomore Claire King, a double major in political science and public administration, volunteered at the Nov. 29 voting event. 

“I do think recognizing your own voice, knowing that you are capable of making decisions and impacting the world around you is important for young people to know,” King said. “I just think that a lot of people in our generation do want to make change out there in the world and the first thing in doing that is to be able to practice sharing your own views in government.”

Graybeal said the voice of younger generations is important in all elections, but Arkansas is facing the effect of low voting numbers. 

“A lot of people don’t realize how much power they do have but in Arkansas, we have one of the lowest rates of voter participation in the country,” Graybeal said. “And so sometimes just a few voices can go a really long way for our local races.”

According to the United States Election Project, Arkansas ranked in the bottom 10 states for voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election. (https://www.electproject.org/2020g)

Graybeal said that one reason Arkansas has such low voting numbers is because of a lack of accessible registration opportunities.

“We’re one of the few states that doesn’t have an online voter registration process. We have to register using a paper form submitted to the county clerk,” Graybeal said.

However, anyone can check if they’re registered to vote on vote.org.