Archive: Around Town

Equipped with Zoom rooms, Instagram, Facebook, tweets and texts – social distancing tools in the age of COVID-19 – a group of students is demystifying the mechanics of voter registration and casting a ballot.

The approximately 50 students are members of Cornell Votes, a universitywide, nonpartisan group seeking to increase civic engagement on campus, and promote voter registration and turnout. Amy Somchanhmavong, associate director of the Cornell Public Service Center, and Sage Clemenco, community initiatives associate, serve as advisers.

For many students, the polling process is new.

"We've noticed this semester that it isn't that students don't want to vote or that they're apathetic. It's the opposite: We see incredible enthusiasm from students for voting," said Shruti Kanna '22, Cornell Votes' community engagement chair.

Kanna said students want to know how to properly fill out a voter registration card, how and where to vote, or whether to vote in person, mail it in or cast by absentee ballot.

"We're just giving them resources and a space to actually learn about the election process," Kanna said.

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