A team of student volunteers is working to make sure students are informed and ready to cast their ballot this November. An exciting opportunity for many of them who are also voting in a presidential election for the first time.
Regardless of political opinion, the 2024 election will be one for the history books, and Elon University Civic Engagement Ambassadors are working to ensure students are educated about going to the ballot box.
The Civic Engagement Ambassadors are a team of student volunteers within Elon Votes!, a nonpartisan campus initiative that helps students connect with the necessary resources to register to vote and cast their ballots.
“It’s a civic duty in America and we all have the opportunity to make change,” said Emily Stuart ’26, who co-leads the Civic Engagement Ambassadors with Jackson Fender ’25. “The government isn’t made of steel and concrete; it’s made of people. We can make change, and things can move. So, when we all can have our voices heard, it’s important that we’re engaging with democracy.”
Lifelong civic engagement
Stuart and Fender oversee the team of ambassadors who staff the office in the Moseley Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., helping answer any and all questions about the electoral process. The ambassadors run events like watch parties and deliberative dialogues. Stuart worked as an ambassador last year and said she’s noticed the increase in students coming into the office looking for information about the election and how to vote.
Ashley Hess ’27 is one of the ambassadors this year and some of the most common questions she hears from other students include how to change their registration from their home state and concerns over where their vote matters.
“Our age group came into consciousness during a crazy political climate,” said Hess. “It’s been all we’ve known, especially with COVID and how that has impacted the world. So, I think it’s important to engage young people. Even if you feel politics doesn’t influence you, it influences so many people. Starting people out in college with an organization like this is so important to lifelong civic engagement.”
The desire to create change with their votes is something felt by other civic ambassadors, including Aarya Potti ’27.
“I think a lot of people assume you have to know everything about politics to feel educated enough to vote, but politics and the policies that politicians enact impact all aspects of life,” said Potti. “It’s pretty easy to get your voice heard.”
Casting the first ballot
This presidential election will also be the first where Stuart, Hess and Potti are able to vote. As a political science major, Stuart says it’s felt like “overload” at times.
“It’s important to be overinformed, rather than misinformed or uninformed,” said Stuart. “It’s definitely been special to have this leadership role and be able to map out the information I’m getting to the greater student body.”
Potti says voting for the first time in this election is both “exciting” and “scary.”
“It’s a high-pressure election,” Potti said. “The 2016 election was the first one where I understood what was going on, and it’s exciting encouraging everyone to register to vote, no matter their political party.”
Fender voted in the 2020 presidential election, and he and Stuart are focusing on educating young voters that this election goes beyond just the presidency.
“Voting in the 2020 election for the first time was like being thrown into the fire of the U.S. political system,” said Fender. “It’s not just two candidates sparring against each other this November. There are so many more things at stake, and so it’s important to be informed and vote for all of those positions.”
Voting resources at Elon
Elon University is hosting a variety of events to encourage civic engagement in the 2024 election and beyond. For more information, visit the Elon Votes! website.
While the in-person voter registration deadline has passed in North Carolina, students can still register to vote in person during the early voting period that ends on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. You can then vote at the same location. One of the five early voting sites in Alamance County is located on Elon’s campus in South Gym. Voters must show an acceptable photo ID to vote in North Carolina.
Students who plan to vote in North Carolina who do not have a North Carolina-issued driver’s license or any other forms of ID listed here can obtain a special Elon Phoenix Voter Card. This card, provided at no cost by Elon University, has been approved by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Pick up an Elon Phoenix Voter Card from the Phoenix Card office in Oaks McCoy Commons (Room 201) Monday-Friday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m. Once you obtain this card, it will serve as your Phoenix Card and full-time student ID.