By: Katelyn Norris
It’s 2020, and it’s been a hard year. It has felt like at every turn something was going wrong and that we had no control in it.
However, there is one thing in this scary year that we can have some control over – Election Day.
For many of us in Bellarmine’s student body, this election will be the first year we will get to vote in a presidential election. Election Day is always a tipping point in any year; it can make or break a population. This time we have the option to contribute to that.
For me, I have never felt like the stakes have been higher for an election in my life time. I remember feeling angry and hopeless when I was unable to vote in 2016. I wanted to be able to use my voice in the only way I knew how when I was younger – voting.
But that was then, and four years later we can now make our voices heard. I know I can use my voice to help others through petitions, letters, and protests. However, on Tuesday, November 3, the only way we can show what we stand for is by voting.
Today, Tuesday September 22, is National Voter Registration Day. The deadline to register to vote in Kentucky is October 5. This is less than a month away and you have time to sign up online. It takes less than 15 minutes to go online and register to vote.
It’s 2020 though, there’s a pandemic, we’re at college and away from home. It may feel impossible to vote, but there is always a to get your ballot. Absentee ballots have become a lifesaver of college student across the nation, even more so in the wake of Covid.
Requesting an absentee ballot is simple, just go online and submit an application. It takes less than 15 minutes to complete and the ballot and can be shipped right to your BU P.O. box. Or, you can do what I did and call my local county clerk’s office to request one.
In Jefferson County, County Clerk, Bobbie Holsclaw, recently announced that there will be 8 polling places open on election day. In a press conference, she noted that all 8 of the voting places will be open to any registered voter from Jefferson County regardless of their residence within the county.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is October 9, which will be here sooner than you think, so after you register, make sure to request your ballots now.
Now, if you’ve done all those things, remember Election Day is a nerve-wracking day. It’s full of emotions and hope and fear for the future of our nation. November 3 will shape the way we feel as a nation for the next four years.
This is me asking you, to vote. To vote for someone who will uplift us as nation and to unify us as a people. This is me asking you to use your voice for once and do this simple thing. Register to vote and cast you ballot on November 3, let your nation hear your voice.
To register to vote in Kentucky, visit https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/. To request an absentee ballot visit https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/abrweb/.