With the general election less than a month away, many Augustana students are securing their ballots, some even for the first time. On Oct. 2, the League of Women’s Voters (LWV) was set up in the Tredway Library hallway lounge to aid students in the voter registration process.
LWV member Alice Traylor worked the table, assisting students through paperwork, documentation and the registration process. Alice is also a deputy voter registrar for Rock Island County.
In order to register, Alice said students had to provide two forms of identification, one including the student’s current address.
First-Year Hannah Thomas said she was able to register with just her ID and phone, thanks to information she had via email. Thomas had voted before, but she said she thought the process would be much more complicated.
“She filled out the paperwork, and I just gave her information. That made it a lot easier,” Thomas said.
As students passed through the library, Alice said she would ask if they were registered to vote to encourage students to stop at the table. She said the process took less than ten minutes.
“She was really clear with questions like, ‘Can you show me this? Can you show me that? This is acceptable, this is not,’ so, it was super simple,” Thomas said.
First-Year Valynnzia Correa registered to vote in the library for the first time. Like many other students, Correa said she felt a little “clueless” about the voter registration process.
“I had no idea what to do, so she helped a lot,” Correa said.
The table also featured a QR code containing voter and voter registration information for students to scan as they walked by. Research and Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor Garrett Traylor helped coordinate the event and said over 20 students registered to vote at the event.
The LWV’s website states “The League of Women Voters of Illinois is a nonpartisan organization that works to protect fair elections and increase civic engagement.” Alice said the organization focuses on educating individuals in the voting process.
“I am here to register non-registered students, faculty and anyone who comes by registering to vote in the current election,” Alice said. “You are not asked about your party or what you think. I am just here to see that you can vote.”
Garrett agreed with this sentiment and said the library is a “nonpartisan” space and resource for students. They said the library now offers baseline voter information and hopes to continue to assist students in future elections.
“One of the new resources we developed and had up with the display was the voting 101 library resource guide, which also has some information about getting registered to vote,” Garrett said.
Within this resource guide, students are provided with important dates regarding the election, videos on why voting is important and a guide to voting in the 2024 presidential election.
“It’s important to vote, it’s one of our civic duties,” Garrett said.
Alice agreed with this statement and said “Just vote.”
Garrett said the library plans to hold post-election events to help students unwind and take care of their mental health.
“On Nov. 6, we are not teaching any classes. We’re gonna have therapy dogs here in the library, QC Canine. We’re gonna bring them in and just have a ‘let’s relax’ after the election,” he said.
