Election Day is still more than two weeks away, but U students will be able to cast their ballots on campus as early as Tuesday.
For the first time, early voting will be available at the U at a special polling place in the Union. Anyone who is registered to vote at a Salt Lake County address can come in on any weekday afternoon until Oct. 31 and beat the large crowds expected to turn out Nov. 4.
Associated Students of the University of Utah Government Relations Board Director Andrew Jensen said the U’s early voting station is the fulfillment of a commitment made last spring by ASUU President Patrick Reimherr, Vice President Jon Hayes and Senior Class President Madison Warren.
Jensen said the three ASUU officers decided shortly after they were elected to make increased civic engagement on campus one of their top goals. The voting station is the culmination of a six-month effort to get as many U students as possible registered, informed and involved in this year’s election.
“Now we want students to actually vote,” Jensen said. “We don’t want this year to turn out like 2004 and like 2000 before that, where the youth vote really wasn’t that impressive relative to its size and potential.”
Jensen said he expects a large turnout at the early voting station. An e-mail notification about early voting on campus was sent to more than 30,000 members of the U community last week and it has been advertised heavily through ASUU’s VoteProject organization.
Several touch-screen voting machines will be set up at the Union polling station and about a dozen representatives from the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office will be on hand each day to assist with the process.
“There are more days to vote, there are longer hours to vote and this is super convenient,” Jensen said. “It’s where people are every single day.”
Early voting is a trend that has become popular nationwide during the past two election cycles as state and county election officials try to find ways to get more voters to the polls.
During the last election, there were 12 early voting locations scattered across Salt Lake County. This year there are 16 locations, including the one at the U.
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said the U is the first and only college campus in the state with an early voting station set up and that early voting is particularly beneficial for students who often have time and transportation concerns.
“Early voting makes it easier to do,” Swensen said. “Students don’t have to worry about finding their correct polling place and then getting there during the specified time frame.”
Swensen said early voters must have been registered before the Oct. 6 mail-in deadline and will be required to show identification.