ACPA – College Students International strongly believes in the importance and value of college students engaging in their constitutional right to participate in local, state and national elections in the United States.
We believe that voting processes and procedures should be free from barriers and other obstacles. In this light, ACPA is in favor of polling locations in close proximity to college campuses to facilitate access, when possible. In addition, we encourage campuses to consider ways that they can facilitate participation such as through organizing transportation such as bus shuttles and car/motor pool to polling locations. We are also in favor of policies that allow students to adjust their residency to where they are studying, as well as absentee voting procedures that allow students to vote in their home communities.
ACPA endorses policies that allow college students to use their official institutional IDs as a form of identification for polling locations. Higher Education institutions in the United States have verified their students’ identities, and established and confirmed processes for the issuance of identifications and these should be considered as valid forms of identification.
Whether it’s a local, state, or national election, our concern revolves around the escalating use of damaging rhetoric. This rhetoric is aimed at erecting obstacles that hinder college-age students from effectively exercising their constitutional right to vote. These barriers are disguised as measures to safeguard election integrity, but in reality, they impede college students’ ability to participate fully in the democratic process.. We believe that all elections should be free and fair, but using the excuse of election integrity to create additional barriers for college students is mistaken and sends the wrong message.
ACPA encourages its members to be informed and educated on this important issue. As an Association deeply devoted to social justice, as evident in our Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and Decolonization, the issue of electoral participation holds immense significance. This importance extends not only to our members but also to the students whom we diligently serve in our daily roles
We have shared resources that have been compiled through the American Council on Education:
- Vote.org
- Democracy works https://howto.vote/
- USA.gov
- National Association of Secretaries of State https://www.nass.org/can-I-vote
- All In Campus Democracy Challenge https://allinchallenge.org/resources/all-in-to-vote/
- Your Voice Your Vote https://www.naicu.edu/your-vote-your-voice-2020
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