Geaux Vote, a non-partisan LSU student organization focused on voter education and engagement, celebrated National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 20 with a voter registration drive in Free Speech Alley.

Political science and international studies sophomore Lailah Williams is Geaux Vote’s director of programming and initiatives.

“We’re out here tabling, getting people registered, helping them check their voter registration status and signing up for notifications about different election-based information, and also just telling them a little bit more about what it means to be civically engaged,” Williams said.

Many people don’t know about voter registration, Williams said, and students often mistook their tabling efforts as part of Student Government voting.

“We want to make sure that people are knowledgeable and aware of each election cycle whenever it happens so that they can be aware of when to vote and how to vote and who they’re voting for, most importantly,” Williams said.

Williams said LSU has a good history with youth voter participation, with some of the highest youth voter participation rates in the SEC.

According to a September 2022 campus report from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, about 84% of eligible LSU students were registered to vote in 2020, and about 77% of registered students voted in the 2020 election. 

Williams believes it’s important for students to vote and stay on top of their voter registration, so they are ready when elections occur. Election Day is on Nov. 8, but the voter registration deadline varies for each state. Louisiana’s headline Oct. 11 in-person and Oct. 18 online.

“It’s most important for people to be registered to vote because it’s a part of your civic duty. We’re the adults now…we need to go out and take that responsibility upon ourselves…that’s the best way to arm yourself as an American citizen, is to know who you’re voting for [and] why you’re voting,” Williams said.

Public relations senior Bridget Cotten serves as the president of Geaux Vote and hopes the organization can increase voter participation for all elections. 

“Geaux Vote wants all students of LSU to be engaged in their local, state and national elections. Voting is a fundamental part of being in a democracy, and Geaux Vote wants everyone to exercise their right to vote,” Cotten said.

Cotten said that busy college students may also not want to miss class or other obligations to vote, but she hopes schools and jobs will give excused absences for voting days in the future.

As an out-of-state student, Cotten knows the difficulty students not from Louisiana can face when trying to vote while at school, but she encourages them to still submit an absentee ballot as soon as they can.

“I understand the added time it takes to submit an absentee ballot. But the sooner you submit it, the less you worry about getting it back on time,” Cotten said. 

Political communication junior Matthew Delatte is the director of communications, social media and marketing for Geaux Vote. Delatte expressed excitement to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, his “favorite holiday.” 

According to a Boston Globe article, college students are a historically underrepresented demographic in elections that have only recently begun setting record voter turnout numbers with the 2020 election. But some students are still unaware of the election process and how to participate.

“A lot of students who come into college, they’re just turning 18, but they’re also getting thrown this entire new life…I think that all college students want to vote, but I do think that sometimes they do lack the resources,” Delatte said.

Unlike other campuses, LSU does not have an office of voter registration that focuses on outreach, which Delatte said creates a barrier for voting that Geaux Vote is trying to fix. 

He said that the universities that do have voter registration offices have higher voting rates than LSU, but they are more likely to be found at private universities and not in the SEC. Still, Delatte emphasized the importance of mobilizing college students to vote.

“We are putting the people who we want to speak on behalf of us in office, and I know that I wouldn’t want someone that I didn’t particularly vote for in office, so that’s why I believe all students should vote,” he said.

Delatte said Geaux Vote has many upcoming events to help students get involved, including absentee ballot training, vote-by-mail drives and educational events to provide students with the tools and resources they need to participate in elections.

“Know that your vote means a lot more than just a ballot…It’s your vote, but it’s also going to be the voice that represents a multitude of people, so make sure you pick your candidate carefully,” Delatte said.