Penn State students prepare to vote in November election

Story posted November 3, 2022 in CommRadio, News by Abigail Chachoute

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - As Penn State students prepare to vote in the fall election, many are looking forward to making an impact through their participation. 

For some first and second-year students, this will be their first time voting and many look forward to having their voices heard. 

“Being able to be a part of one of America’s civic duties is so cool to be a part of now,” Emma Goldkopf said. 

Students also realize the power of their vote.

“Voting in the election is an opportunity to impact something bigger than myself and impact the lives of others, and I look forward to doing that,” Sophia Ross said.

Many Penn State students living on-campus are away from home and opt for absentee ballots. In these cases, some students are concerned about filling out their ballot correctly. 
 
“I’m voting absentee so I'm trying to figure out what exactly I need to do to make sure that my vote gets there and is able to be counted,” Goldkopf (first-year-broadcast journalism) said.

Some students believe that there is an information gap when it comes to voting and that it would be beneficial for more information to increase campus-wide so students are more informed as to how to vote when it’s time to do so. 

“I do see people really sparingly on campus talking about it,” Ross (sophomore-life sciences) said. “But it's very sparing, I feel like they should talk about it in our classes.”

Simone Miller (junior-global and international studies) understands how stressful it is to vote for the first time, especially when she voted during the 2020 presidential election. She expects this year to be less stressful and looks forward to voting in a different type of election.

Abigail Chachoute is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact her, email axc6070@psu.edu.