The date to register to vote is crawling closer for OU students to exercise their democratic rights.
The Athens County Board of Elections, located on 15 S. Court St., will be open to registering voters until Oct. 7 when the office closes at 4 p.m.
If you are at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election, a citizen of the U.S., a citizen of Ohio for at least 30 days before the election and registered to vote at least 30 days before the election, you are eligible to vote in Athens.
To register to vote, you can go to the Board of Elections (BOE), the Secretary of State’s office, branch registration offices or locations established by a Board of Elections, any public high school or vocational school, the office of any Bureau of Motor Vehicles, offices of designated agencies that provide public assistance or disability programs, public libraries, county treasurer’s office or online, according to the BOE’s website.
If you are registered to vote but have moved within the state or county or changed names, you must report the change to the Board of Elections by completing a voter registration in an eligible location or by mail, according to the BOE.
When it comes time to vote, early voting is from Oct. 8 to Nov. 3, and in-person voting will be Nov. 5 at your prescribed precinct.
Students living in Bromley or Voigt Hall will vote at the First Presbyterian Church, located at 2 N. Court St. Students living in all other residence halls will vote at Baker University Center rooms 240 and 242.
Students living off campus can find their voting precinct at lookup.boe.ohio.gov. For out-of-state students, polling locations and voter registration can be found at nonprofitvote.org.
Mail-in voting begins 45 days before election day and can be requested by your local Board of Elections. Early voting starts the day after the registration deadline closes, according to the ACLU Ohio.
Students will need a valid form of photo identification such as an unexpired driver's license, passport, state ID card or military ID.
Generation Z, composed of people born between 1997 and 2012, voted at a higher rate in 2022 than previous generations in their first midterm elections, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE.
41 million members of Generation Z will be eligible to vote in the upcoming general election, according to CIRCLE.
