The Barrier
Students across the state are challenged by heavy course loads, extra-curriculars, part-time jobs, and family responsibilities. Their experiences as young people will color their bright futures as they take on leadership roles in our society. For an increasingly busy and overworked student population, voting can be more than merely inconvenient, but altogether impossible when polling locations aren’t accessible. Student life centers around campus, so why shouldn’t voting?
At many Texas colleges and universities, students are forced to go off-campus to find polling locations to cast their ballot. County officials have failed to improve the voting experience for university students with a simple fix like placing a voting site on campuses with large student populations. Students resort to suing counties for their right to vote at campuses: at Texas A&M Prairie View and Texas State University, there were limited polling locations and restricted times leading to several hours-long lines. Students have battled for years for their right to an accessible polling location on these campuses.
We can all agree that having access to a polling location in the place you live and work makes it so everyone has a fair chance of making it to the polls. Why can’t we give students the same fair chance to access the vote?
The Solution
Require polling places on large college campuses.
First introduced in the 2019 legislative session, a policy requiring counties to place polling sites on large campuses would increase accessibility of the polls for students across the state. Students, who often have heavy course loads, could vote in between classes on campus, rather than risk their education taking the time to find transportation off campus to a voting location, which may already be overburdened by long lines or ancient malfunctioning voting machines.
Polling places on campus would ensure fair access for students to the poll box. By creating a more inclusive policy, and removing barriers faced by our students who have less flexibility in their schedules and more dependence on others for transportation, we can give our young people a fighting chance to make it to the polls.