Campus department offers voting registration assistance

Liberty University’s Office of Government Relations is offering students voter registration assistance until the Oct. 15 registration deadline for the upcoming 2024 presidential and
local elections.

By either emailing vote@liberty.edu or visiting the on-campus voter registration tables, students may be guided on how to fill out the voter registration form and turn it in to the Office of Government Relations. The office will then deliver the registration form to the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office in downtown Lynchburg. For students who wish to turn in the registration form to the registrar’s office themselves, they can find the office in Suite A at 825 Kemper St.

“Our assistance really is just like helping you with any questions and then making sure it gets to the registrar’s office because a lot of students don’t have time, don’t have a car or don’t want to go downtown to take the registration form,” Lauren Pickett, the Office of Government Relations’ policy and regulation analyst, said.

Students living in the Lynchburg area, both on-campus or off-campus, can register to vote with either their home state or Virginia.  If a student chooses to vote in a state other than Virginia, they will either need to travel back home or submit an absentee ballot through the mail.

“If you’re going to live in Virginia … for four years and you would have an impact locally, that’s a reason to vote here,” Kenny Craig, the director of government and community relations, said.

Pickett said the Office of Government Relations encourages students to “voice” their vote but will not tell students which candidate they should vote for. Instead, Pickett said that students should consider voting based on the values that they have acquired through analyzing Scripture and studying at Liberty.

“We’re not going to try to lead you in one direction versus another,” Pickett said. “Throughout your time at Liberty, we know that you have heard the truth, the biblical truth, … so we trust you to … make your own decision based on your life experiences and what you’ve learned at Liberty.”

While some individuals may believe that their vote has no impact on the outcome of the election, Pickett and Craig said that voting is a civic duty of every citizen of the United States. According to Pickett, when people cast their vote, it allows them to share their faith in their community. Whether students vote in the local, state or federal elections, or all three, they can have an impact by adhering to their values as they cast their vote.

“We believe it’s important to share your faith and be active in your community using your faith, so engaging in your civic duty is a great way to do that,” Pickett said.   

Before students cast their votes on Election Day, Pickett and Craig advise them to research the candidates running. While the presidential election ballot states what party each candidate aligns with, the city council election ballot does not include that information. To prepare for the city council election, students should conduct their own research about the candidates through the candidates’ websites and then decide on whom to vote for.

“There’s not going to be someone you like everything about, so figure out your priorities when you’re researching, and then look into how they’ve either voted in the past or what they say they’re going to do when they get into office,” Pickett said.

For more voting information, visit both www.liberty.edu/vote and
elections.virginia.us.    

Sturek is the campus news editor for the Liberty Champion.