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About 50 days out from Election Day, AU is providing students with the resources they need to cast their ballot this fall. 听
On September 16鈥20, Bender Library will host the fourth AU Absentee Ballot Days. Falling during National Voter Registration Day on September 17, Absentee Ballot Days鈥攁 nonpartisan initiative sponsored by Bender Library and the Center for Leadership and Community Service鈥攚as chosen because it鈥檚 the last reliable week to hit the deadlines in every state.
鈥淲e鈥檝e helped thousands of our students vote,鈥 said Gwendolyn Reece, director of research, teaching, and learning for the library. 鈥淥ur big goal here is to remove any barriers to voting.鈥
While mail-in voting is convenient for AU students studying away from home, the process to request a ballot can be complicated鈥攅specially for younger and first-time voters. Across the country, each jurisdiction has its own forms and requirements.
From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. all week, a coalition of volunteers from听AU Votes, student affairs, advising, AU Student Government, Students for Change,听the DC League of Women Voters,听and library staff will be on hand at Bender Library to help answer questions and assist Eagles with resources needed to request an absentee ballot.
The free on-site services will include assistance with:
- Registering to vote
- Printing paper forms
- Making copies of IDs
- Completing forms
- Signed witness and notary services
- No-cost envelopes and stamps
To provide specific resources across all 50 states and DC, the library has also compiled a subject guide that provides detailed information on .
鈥淲e know from research that whether or not people have early positive voting experiences is huge in terms of its impact on their later voting behavior,鈥 Reece said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want our students to be joining the party of non-voters.鈥
copresident Alyssa Levin, SPA/BA 鈥25, SPA-SOC/MA 鈥26, who is from New Jersey, said she had 鈥渘o idea鈥 how to request an absentee ballot when she got to AU in 2022. As she prepared to vote for the first time, she learned how to cast her ballot through the mail by going to and volunteering with Absentee Ballot Days. That experience was so foundational it helped inspire Voters of AU, a nonpartisan student organization empowering students to vote that Levin and Emma Baumgarten, SIS/BA 鈥26, founded last year.
鈥淭hey sat me down and walked me through the whole process,鈥 Levin said. 鈥淚 mailed it out and got my ballot back. That was so empowering to see that support system exist so early in my college experience, seeing people who really cared about making sure everyone was represented. That鈥檚 something that really inspired me to want to do more to help students vote.鈥
Next week, Levin will be back in front of Bender Library along with some of Voters of AU鈥檚 110 members to help other Eagles in need of assistance. The CLEG major sees the civic-minded work as part of living up to the university鈥檚 values.
鈥淥n a campus that talks about how Change Can't Wait, voting is one of the most direct ways to make that change,鈥 Levin said. 鈥淪o, helping our students have the easiest possible [path] to vote, to know exactly what they鈥檙e voting for, to have all the information the resources that they might need, is hugely important to this campus鈥檚 mission.鈥
Would you like to volunteer with Absentee Ballot Days? You can sign up All participants听must complete a brief training before volunteering with the nonpartisan initiative.