UCA Vote Everywhere joined Indivisible Little Rock and Central Arkansas to host a voter registration table in the Torreyson Library, encouraging students to register to vote or check their registration status on Tuesday, Feb. 15. 

“Vote Everywhere is a nonpartisan student organization supported by the Andrew Goodman Foundation, with chapters at higher education institutions throughout the U.S,” Lesley Graybeal, director of service-learning and volunteerism and Campus Champion of Vote Everywhere said. 

“UCA has had a Vote Everywhere program since 2018. It’s led by two student ambassadors, who are currently Emma Davis and Vivian Norris,” Graybeal said.       

The goal of Vote Everywhere is to get college students more involved and realize the importance of voting, junior Vote Everywhere ambassador Vivian Norris said. 

Vote Everywhere hosts voter registration drives about once every month, but engagement has seen a slight decrease due to the pandemic.

“The turnout for voter registration has gone down since COVID-19, but there is definitely still some engagement with people either registering for the first time or just changing their address. I definitely think it’s effective even if people aren’t coming up to the table. I think it’s just a good reminder that voting is important,” Norris said.

The convenience of voter registration tables on campus, as well as her involvement in a class project centered on the importance of voting, is what drew freshman Denasia Hardin into registering to vote on Tuesday. 

“In upcoming elections, our votes really count, so why not sign up? It’s convenient. I don’t think a lot of students register to vote, so I think it’s good that they are here stressing the importance of voting,” Hardin said. 

Indivisible LRCA is a nonpartisan organization that reached out to help Vote Everywhere achieve its goals of institutionalizing voter registration and engagement on campus by supporting its on-campus registration drives this semester. Indivisible LRCA strives to educate and activate voters in Arkansas. 

“Arkansas is one of eleven states where you can’t register to vote online, which holds a lot of people back from registering,” Kat Battie, lead for the Indivisible LRCA voter registration team said.

According to the Pew Research Center, eligible voter turnout increased in every state during the 2020 presidential election; however, Arkansas had the second-lowest eligible voter turnout, preceding Oklahoma by 1.1%. This statistic is one that Indivisible LRCA is hoping to change, Battie said. 

The deadline to register to vote in the May primary election is April 25, Graybeal said.

“There’s also a voter information tile in MyUCA where any student can go to check their voter registration status, and any student is welcome to contact me directly if they are interested in registering to vote or have questions about where and how to vote,” Graybeal said. 

Vote Everywhere will host another voter registration drive on Tuesday, March 15 in the Student Center. For more information on registration status, upcoming elections and how to prepare to vote, visit uca.edu/go/election.

Students can also follow @uca_bearsattheballot on Instagram for more information and updates on registration drives, and receive text reminders by texting “ucavotes” to 56525.