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With election season in full swing, ������ strives to get students civically engaged. An Undergraduate Student Government-affiliated, university-wide nonpartisan coalition called Kent State Votes aims to get Kent State students more involved and informed about voting in local, state and federal elections.

Kent State Votes partners with students and university staff to engage as many community members as possible.

Kent State Today talked with two Kent State students dedicated to increasing voting engagement on campus.

Zach Graves, a senior political science major, and Renee Ellis, a sophomore fashion design and merchandising major, both heavily involved in the ������ community, are actively helping students understand the voting process from registration to casting a ballot.

Graves holds multiple titles on campus, but he focuses on Undergraduate Student Government and Kent State Votes.  

His specific role within the voting organization is the co-chair of the coalition where he tag teams projects with Craig Berger, the associate director of Community Engaged Learning.

Graves took the lead on the annual Flashes Vote Festival.

“The goal is to just bring as many student organizations and campus departments together. To have different activities, and engagements related to voting,” Graves said. “Overall, we want to generate enthusiasm and excitement about voting.”  

Ellis is engaged in voting on campus through her affiliation as a Community Action Fellow through Community Engaged Learning.

“This was one of the first years they've done this program. And when it was presented to me, it was presented as project-based,” Ellis said. “We get to create our project, and we get to enact change in places we see fit.”  

Her specific initiative was civic engagement. Ellis has been involved in political activism since high school, so she felt she’d be able to bridge the gap between the world of activism and students.  

Ellis had taken the lead on a multicultural open table talk through the E. Timothy Moore Student Multicultural Center. She hosted the event to encourage students of color to register to vote and for everyone to check their voter registration status. Within the table talk, she asked questions regarding feelings about voting and why they are or aren’t registered.

“Working with Zach and Renee has been such a great experience,” Berger said. “Each of them is so passionate about making sure that their peers have the information they need to participate and feel engaged in the voting process. They are talented, reliable organizers with fantastic ideas."

Both Graves and Ellis find it very important to vote.  

“Everybody knows it's a presidential election, but there's also the Ohio Senate race and local races,” said Graves. “Maybe you have a school levy or another thing on your local ballot that you think is important. We just think that it's very important that students continue our campus legacy of change-making.”

Kent State has been nationally recognized as a campus where activism thrives ever since the events surrounding May 4, 1970. Graves believes that students here have always been active in the political landscape.  

“We need to continue to push that effort forward and not let all the history and all the work that's been done in the past go for not,” Ellis said.

Kent State Votes is here to support students in navigating this election. Visit Kent State Votes to find information about voting specific to your situation or reach out to the students.

“We'll be glad to help you. If you have questions, you can contact us,” Graves said. “Again, just make sure that you take that next step. Think about planning to vote.”  

To find more information about voting you can go to the Kent State Votes website or contact Zach Graves at zgraves1@kent.edu. 

Learn more about Kent State Votes.