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Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Volume 163 No. 11 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
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ISRAEL ARCHIE | SPARTAN DAILY
San José State University students look at clubs and organizations tabling on Seventh Street Plaza in celebration of National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday.
Students are encouraged to vote By Israel Archie STAFF WRITER
Disclaimer: Israel Archie is a member of Bridge SJSU, which is featured in this story. Seventh Street Plaza was chosen as the spot for the San José State’s Votes Festival on Tuesday. This festival was an opportunity for students to learn more about voting and how they can register to vote in preparation for the upcoming election in
November. SJSU Votes is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for campus voting and civic engagement, according to its webpage. Mary Currin-Percival, a political science professor and a director of SJSU Vote, said she organized the event. “A lot of the students here are just grateful to get all of this information,” Currin-Percival said. “Not just about the election, but information about opportunities in the
community to be civically engaged.” Various clubs and organizations tabled, encouraging students to register to vote while providing students chances to win prizes. Leanna Yanes, the president for the Pi Sigma Alpha – National Political Science Honor Society was impressed with the turn out. “A lot of students are participating and going from table to table,” Yanes said. National Voter
Registration Day is devoted to helping registered voters to go out and vote, according to a webpage from the California Secretary of State. Yanes said she wanted to use this opportunity to talk to people who came to her table about the importance of voting. “I’m very big on urging students to register to vote,” Yanes said. “I think everybody’s vote counts and it is important to be informed about what is going on in your community, and your
country in general because that is what’s going to affect you.” Though the event was encouraging students to register to vote, there were also career resources such as local government campaign team offers, proposition campaign teams offers, etc. “There are so many ways to get involved, so our hope is that people will talk to all of our various partners,” Currin-Percival said. “Maybe they will find an internship or a volunteer opportunity or some other
ISRAEL ARCHIE | SPARTAN DAILY
A San José State University student approaches the SJSU Votes volunteers and takes a peek at the voter registration information packet.
way to get involved in their community.” BridgeSJSU Outreach Director Samantha Sternstein said she is looking forward to expressing her right to vote this election season. “I plan on voting in this election because it will be huge in determining the future of our country,” Sternstein said. BridgeSJSU is a nonpartisan political science club that focuses on bringing different affiliated parties together to talk about social issues in hopes of diminishing the political divide in this country, according to its Instagram page. Khan Ganzorig, an outreach committee member for BridgeSJSU, recently registered to vote and will be voting for the first time. “I’m really excited to vote for the first time,” Ganzorig said. “I’d love to think that it’s going to be the first time for a lot of people.” Students can register to vote online or reach out to SJSU Votes to see if there are any locations on campus that hold in-person voting registration. “I think it will be very interesting seeing where we go, where people align politically and where our country aligns politically,” Sternstein said. “Because it will make a huge difference for our generation and generations to come.” Follow Israel on X (formerly Twitter) @archie45760