The project brings together multiple stakeholders at the Mississippi State University community with local election officials in order to support and promote nonpartisan voter education and civic engagement activities. The goal of this project is to educate young student voters about the election process, increase on-campus civic engagement, and promote student voter participation in the 2022 election. The project will transition into a data-driven evaluation of activities and report their findings to stakeholders, LEOs, and the broader campus community.
When state election officials invest in voter education, they may actually bolster confidence in ballot-counting at the personal, local, state and national levels. Co-authored by Thessalia Merivaki.
The Reflector: Political science department celebrates National Voter Registration Day
Thessalia Merivaki, an assistant professor in the political science and public administration department, said her department planned to host guests and set up voter registration drives to celebrate.
One important story to tell about young voters is the barriers they face to vote. For many, these hoops can affect their first-time voter experience, and can exclude them from future elections.
After completing our registration drives in September 2022, our students concluded that it is difficult to register to vote in Mississippi. There are ways to fix this, but our state legislators must make it easier for election officials to do their job and keep elections safe. By Thessalia Merivaki, Leslie Baker, and James Chamberlain
Merivaki is an Assistant Professor of American Politics at Mississippi State University, and the faculty advisor for MSUCollege Republicans. Merivaki is an election sciences expert and has collaborated with local election officials on research, voter registration training and outreach, poll worker programs, and student run exit polls. She has also established a partnership with the Mississippi Secretary of State. Merivaki is a founding member of Mississippi State University’s Voter Friendly Campus Taskforce, which was created in 2018, after Merivaki piloted campus-wide, student-run voter registration and mobilization activities.
Chamberlain is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the MA in Political Science. Chamberlain is teaching Introduction to Political Theory in the Fall of 2022, with a 45-student enrollment. He has agreed to involve his students on National Voter Registration Day as a class activity in lieu of teaching that day and will offer his students the option to participate in the “March to the Polls” GOTV activity on Election Day.
Baker is an Instructor of Political Science and Undergraduate Coordinator. Baker is the faculty advisor for MSU College Democrats, and is teaching Introduction to American Government in the Fall of 2022, with a 200-student enrollment. She has agreed to involve her students on National Voter Registration Day as a class activity in lieu of teaching that day and will offer her students the option to participate in the “March to the Polls” GOTV activity on Election Day.
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