Paul Baldauf, professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, remembers going door-to-door to encourage people to register to vote.
“I went door-knocking, and I forced my daughter to come with me. This was eight years ago, and she really, absolutely hated it and frowned the whole time. But when the results came in, she was glad she went out and really tried to make a difference,” Baldauf said.
Baldauf is the faculty adviser for Epsilon Eta, NSU’s environmental conservation honors fraternity. Epsilon Eta is gearing up for a voter registration event in the UC Spine on Sept. 30. Attendees can come to register to vote, update their voter record and ask general questions about the election.
Baldauf works alongside countless people on campus and in the wider Broward community to ensure voters are equipped, educated and enthusiastic about voting in the upcoming elections.
“We’ve tried to make it a habit to host a voter registration every couple of years. It keeps the group active and gets them thinking about the consequences of voting,” Baldauf said.
Baldauf credits the Broward Board of Elections with some of the success of his voting initiatives.
“It’s really the case that Broward Board of Elections is really interested in reaching out to students, and they’ve been incredibly gracious every time we’ve asked them to come. It doesn’t matter to them whether they got five registrations or 200 registrations; they come.” Baldauf said.
The board’s penchant for outreach is fostered by Joe Scott, Broward election supervisor.
“I got myself prepared in terms of everything I need to learn to make sure that we’re able to provide the people of Broward County with the type of elections they deserve,” Scott said.
Scott is coming into this election with three years of experience, and his focus this time around is keeping the voting public informed. New legislation has caused statewide shake-ups, and Scott wants people to be aware of the changes.
“The state of Florida has changed the voting laws three different times since the last presidential election. We’re putting new systems in place to make that as easy as possible for people, also with drop-boxes, even with the new requirements and new restrictions,” Scott said.
Voting accessibility has also increased since the last election, and Scott wants Broward voters to take advantage of these services.
“We have 29 early voting sites, whereas in the last presidential election, we had 22. These are locations where people can drop off their vote by mail ballots. In addition to that, we went from having two office locations to nine. These are places where you can drop off your ballot when early voting is not going on,” Scott said.
Broward voters also have access to resources before they reach the ballot box. The Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center is one option available for uncertain voters.
“We have different books about voting [in] elections; we have all types of databases; I have a whole library guide that explains the different election dates and things to know around registration,” said Sarena Hicks, outreach librarian at the Alvin Sherman Library.
Hicks works especially close with NSU students. Her information sessions are geared toward all students, but first-time voters and out-of-state students typically learn the most. Out of state students can register to vote. All they need is a mailing address in Florida.
“You need to make sure you’re registered if you want to vote in Florida. You can use your local address to register to vote. I’ve had students ask, ‘How do I decide [what state to vote in]?’ Where do you think your vote might be more impactful is what I tell students,” Hicks said.
Be the first to comment on "Meet the people who are working hard to make voting easy"