Getting students registered was only half the battle for Vols Vote, a University of Tennessee at Knoxville initiative preparing to turn its attention to the next important challenge: getting young voters to actually cast ballots during early voting and on Election Day.
Early voting can be especially important for college students who are registered outside of Knox County or in another state, giving them more flexibility to vote where they're registered without having to miss class or make last-minute travel plans. But for those who want to vote in person, UT is giving students Nov. 3 off for Election Day.
The Civic Engagement Roundtable has been working around the clock in its final push before the Oct. 5 voting registration deadline and as the midterm
election approaches. The group is housed within the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs and was tasked by the Institute of American Civics to lead the student engagement side of the nonpartisan Vols Vote initiative.
“I worked a political campaign over the summer, and I was working the polls, and it struck me as to how few young people arrive to these polls," group secretary Alvin Bishop told Knox News.
Young adults ages 18 to 29 historically have lagged behind older voters at the ballot box. In the 2024 presidential election, voters in that age group cast 34,043 of the 224,521 ballots recorded in Knox County, according to the Knox County Election Committee.
The Civic Engagement Roundtable does not take partisan sides but instead implores students to create a plan for when they will vote and to do research on candidates to determine where it makes the most sense to cast a ballot.
Tennessee's legislature has a Republican supermajority, and that isn't likely to change. But it's a different story in neighboring swing states likeGeorgia and North Carolina, which are in play for Democrats seeking to flip control of Congress with seats in the U.S. House and Senate.
Whether a student supports a Democratic or Republican candidate, their vote could matter more anywhere the margin is tight. And it's important students know the deadlines where they are registered in order to cast their vote early and from afar.
Absentee ballots for Virginia must be postmarked by Election Day and received by noon three days later, for example, while North Carolina absentee ballots must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. In Tennessee, absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Check out each state's rules at vote.org/absentee-ballot-deadlines.
Vol Vote initiative continues its push with Tennessee students
The Civic Engagement Roundtable is placing a heavy emphasis on the first and last days of early voting – Oct. 14 and 29 – to inform students about where they can vote in town.
“There's two parts of voter engagement,” group president Alex Durkee told Knox News. “You have to get people to register to vote, and then you have to get people to actually go vote.”
The student group is planning additional events ahead of Election Day and has been meeting with student organizations across campus, including Greek Life groups. Member Eli Hicks hopes that focus extends beyond midterms and presidential elections to Knoxville's often-overlooked local races held in odd-numbered years.
“If anything, your vote matters more in those elections when there's not as many people who are going to vote," Hicks said.
In the Aug. 6 election, voters ages 18 to 34 cast 12,352 of Knox County's 89,609 ballots, the lowest turnout of any age group. Voters ages 35 to 54 more than doubled that total, according to the Knox County Election Committee.
"We just want to encourage everybody, no matter who they are, if they're eligible to come out and vote," Durkee said. "We want to lower that barrier as much as possible for them.”
Still need to register to vote? The clock is ticking
With the Oct. 5 registration deadline approaching fast, here's what student voters should know:
- If you moved to campus and you want to vote in your new home, you can update your registration online, in-person or by mail. You can find instructions for all three methods at knoxvotes.org.
- Understand registering at your new address will cancel out your old registration.
- If you choose to register by mail or online instead of in-person, you must vote in person the first time. Find your polling place at knoxcounty.org/election.
- Tennessee has strict standards for voting absentee, so it could be difficult to register here and request an absentee ballot here. If you want to register here and see whether you qualify for absentee voting, check out knoxvotes.org.
- If you get registered at a voter registration drive on campus, you must vote in person or show the poll worker your ID before the election.
"Voting is important," Durkee said. "Your vote matters whether you feel like it or not. Voting is the backbone of our civic institutions and it's one of the best things you could possibly do as a member of public life."
For more information about UT campus voting initiatives, follow @volsvote and @roundtableutk on Instagram.
Allie Feinberg, politics reporter for Knox News, contributed to this report.
Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email: keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Registering Tennessee college students to vote is only half the battle
