For the average American citizen of voting age, registering to vote and casting a ballot doesn't involve going further than one's home county. But for college students who may live far away from their home districts, the process can be complicated.
With different states and different counties each having their own particular voting rules and regulations, college students need to keep on their toes to make sure that their voices are heard come election day.
One of the most important things for college students to do is keep informed, according to Chrissy Faessen, communications director for Rock the Vote.
"It's just about knowing what your rights are and knowing when you can vote," Faessen said. "It's mainly where they [students] are going to be on Election Day ... and if they're not in their [home] state, they have to have an absentee ballot."
Rock the Vote is a non-partisan organization that aims to engage young people in the voting process. Each election cycle, the group runs events and ad campaigns to coax America's younger generation into registering to vote so they can show up at the polls on election day.
Sophomore Shana Hurley, co-president of Tufts Votes and secretary of the Tufts Democrats, said that while the registration process itself is not terribly complicated, students need to watch out for fine points that might invalidate an application.
"It's a mixed bag," Hurley said. "I don't think voter registration in general is difficult, but you have to be mindful of the details."
Amy Rabinowitz, a junior and vice president of the Tufts Republicans, said that while being removed from your home district can be a headache when voting time rolls around, it's a headache that college students must learn to deal with.
"I think the biggest thing is the absentee ballot, and it's just a reality of our situation," she said. "There's plenty of annoyances ... it's just the kind of thing that you have to figure out for four years."
The key to ensuring that your registration forms and absentee ballots are received on time, Hurley said, is to be prepared early.
"The absentee ballot process, I think, is very structurally difficult," Hurley said. "So it's always good to do everything early."
Hurley added that Tufts Votes, an organization dedicated to promoting voting participation among Tufts students, has had a great deal of success getting people registered to vote for this election cycle.
"We did voter registration in the freshmen dorms," Hurley said. "We did tabling in the campus center on the day of the Massachusetts primary registration deadline, and we registered 200 students."
Tufts Republicans, according to Rabinowitz, don't organize registration drives as a group. Rabinowitz said that she feels there are ample opportunities for college students to get involved.
"We as a club don't do any kind of help with voter registration," she said. "I think there are a lot of options for college students to get registered to vote ... It requires paying attention to registration time and absentee ballots."
Faessen said that for students not already registered to vote, RocktheVote.com has a number of resources that students might find useful, including ways the student can register directly using the Web site.
"Also on our site is a listing of more information for what state you're in," Faessen said. "I would recommend checking out both of those things."
Faessen also stressed that campaigns would do well to ensure that their supporters have all the pertinent facts about voting.
"It's important that the campaigns get information out there about voting rights," she said.
According to Hurley, Jumbos who are registered in Massachusetts face some unique challenges due to the geographical quirks of Tufts' campus.
Students with residences uphill will have a different polling place than those living downhill.
Uphill residents technically live in Medford, while those downhill live in Somerville.
Students registered in Somerville also have to know which of three locations to vote at.
"If you're in an uphill dorm and you're voting in Medford, it's really not complicated, you just vote in Gantcher," Hurley said. "[But if you are downhill] you have three polling places in Somerville, so it's hard to know where to go."
"It's important to know which ward you live in," Hurley added.
While these difficulties may be off-putting to some, Faessen said that young people have become incredibly involved in the electoral process this year regardless of the obstacles.
"What we've seen in the primaries thus far ... we're seeing an incredible momentum among young people going to the polls," Faessen said. "They're turning up at the primaries and at the polls and voting in powerful numbers."
Rabinowitz agreed. "People are really dedicating time and energy to the project ... especially Tufts students are really on top of things," she said.
Hurley has also seen this trend. "Young people are really excited," she said.
Faessen added that the crucial goal is simply to get young people participating: "It's just important to make sure that they're registering," she said.
