Registering to vote/how to vote while away in college!
As many state primary/general elections roll around this coming Fall 2018 (the MA primary is September 4th and the general election is November 6th!), I want to send out a PSA about how you can vote while studying at Smith college. Especially as a member of this empowering, feminist environment at a historically women’s college, I have felt a deep sense of obligation to follow in the footsteps of suffragettes like Ida B. Wells and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and exercise my fundamental democratic right to vote. My fore-mothers worked too darn hard for me not to!! If you are a U.S. citizen who is/will be 18 years old before your state’s primary election, stay tuned for these tips below:
1. New or first-time voter? Here’s how you can register to vote in MA while attending Smith!
*All of the information below can be found be clicking here*:
As U.S. citizens attending and living at a Massachusetts college, you are entitled to become Massachusetts registered voters for the duration of your time at Smith. You can register to vote in Massachusetts in one of two ways:
Register online to vote in Massachusetts
Print out a Massachusetts registration form. Alternatively, you can pick up a paper copy of the form at the registrar’s office in College Hall 102, or in downtown Northampton at the Post Office (37 Bridge St.) or in Northampton City hall (210 Main St, Room 4).
If you are registering to vote as a Northampton resident and you live on-campus, your physical address is the name of your Smith College house and your mailing address is your campus unit number. (i.e. 1 Chapin Way, Unit #).
If you are already registered to vote in your hometown elsewhere in the U.S. but you want to change your registration address to Northampton, you will be removed from the voter list in your hometown or city (wherever is listed as your permanent address). Be aware that in order to vote in Massachusetts, you must be registered 20 days before all primaries and elections and/or 10 days before a special town meeting.
2. Already a registered voter in your home district? Request an Absentee Ballot!
An absentee ballot will enable you to vote by mail in your home state/ home district’s elections if you will be absent from your town or city on Election Day and unable to make it to the polls. Since I will be studying abroad in London during the MA state general election, I just mailed my absentee ballot request form to the Town Clerk’s Office. Every state differs in its deadlines for requesting an absentee ballot, so be sure to verify the requirements on your state’s voting website. However, in general:
Absentee ballots must be requested online or in writing (this varies by state), and emailed or delivered to your city or town hall.
Once you receive your ballot in the mail, your completed ballot must be mailed back to your town or city hall before the polls close on the official Election Day or it will not be counted!
You can request an absentee ballot online by clicking here.
For more information, here are some excellent resources and voting guides I’ve found useful:
http://campusvoteproject.org/studentguides/
https://www.vote.org/
and more on voting and elections in Massachusetts: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm
Finally, if you are interested to learn about the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the U.S., you can visit the Suffrage Collection, 1851-2009 in the Sophia Smith Archives collection!
-Claire
This is so important!!!
