With a lack of clarity surrounding ballots and polls, and the growth of political polarization, it may seem like a challenge to go out and vote. But a small student organization is tackling the issue.
“It’s really nice to feel like I’m making a difference in helping out other students on campus,” Amelia Locke, Shockers Vote Coalition president said. “And it’s just really nice to help students get out to vote, get registered for the first time and help them through that process.”
Locke is the leader of the Shockers Vote Coalition, a student-led, non-partisan civic engagement organization that promotes voter registration and destigmatizes voting. Its members help students throughout the semester to stay informed and learn how to navigate the polls.
The coalition is a Student Government Association agency. Locke, a senior majoring in political science, acknowledged that there can be a lot of confusion surrounding voting and elections.
“It’s gotten pretty complicated nowadays, so we’re just trying to help students from all different walks of life figure out how they can vote and help them do that,” Locke said.
For Locke, her involvement in the organization has been about “telling students that local elections and state elections are just as important as those big presidential elections.”
Shockers Vote frequently hosts voter registration drives, events with local candidates and events aimed at boosting voter turnout and educating students, according to Locke. Many events center around civic holidays like National Vote Early Day, Election Day and National Voter Registration Day.
Anaiyah Dickinson is the Marketing and Special Events Delegate for Shockers Vote. She’s responsible for the marketing events and other initiatives that the group uses to encourage students to vote.
Through the 2024-25 academic year, Shockers Vote hosted 18 voter registration drives, a Q&A with Mayor Lily Wu and two debate watch parties. It registered 228 students on election day and distributed over 500 voter registration and advance ballot request forms, according to a post on the group’s Instagram.
“I loved our ‘donut forget to register to vote’ (event) for National Voter Registration Day,” Dickinson said. “That was a really fun event. We handed out Krispy Kreme donuts, and we got to connect with students and give them information about how to register to vote.”
Locke said she feels “that a lot of people have a lot of apathy towards voting,” and notices a misassessment of how much a student’s vote can matter. She said she tries to reaffirm that every student’s vote matters on the local, state and federal levels. She also wishes to help turn around the low voter turnout that has affected many local elections.
Dickinson got involved with Shockers Vote for the same reason.
“I feel like most students think voting is a lot harder than it is, and I just want to help simplify that process and kind of decrease voter apathy and create resources so that people can be engaged and aware,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson became interested in the topic of voter engagement from a course she took through the Honors College on the Black Lives Matter movement. That introduction prompted her to work on a project in conjunction with the political science department.
“I got involved through a personal project that I started here on campus with another student,” she said. “We actually created a website for the 2024 presidential elections. We compiled a bunch of resources to help students learn more about the candidates and their polling locations and things like that. And I found a lot of passion in doing that work, and so I decided to join (the) Shockers Vote Coalition.”
Dickinson’s role lets her use some of the skills she’s learned through her marketing minor. But her favorite part, she said, is “just the connections that I’ve made with students.”
“I’ve loved being able to interact with students since being involved in Shockers Vote, and just gaining new skills and learning new things about myself, and that I’m capable of a lot more than I thought going into it,” she said.
The coalition provides rides to the polls for students who may not be able to transport themselves, as well as hosts events that are aimed at educating students on their ballots and who is on them.
Recognizing the current state of party polarization, Shockers Vote — as a non-partisan organization — is working to foster deliberative dialogues among students.
“We’re really trying to not only include these voter registration and civic engagement events, to foster a lot of deliberative dialogue amongst students where they feel like they can talk to each other about differing opinions respectfully,” Locke said.
Locke and the executive team for Shocker Vote Coalition also hope to grow the group by inviting students to join their general meetings. Although the general meetings are “not on a consistent basis right now” , said Locke, they always fall on Monday nights from 5-6 p.m. in the Rhatigan Student Center, room 265. The dates of their general meetings are always posted ahead of time on their Instagram.
