On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Dodd Impact’s Democracy and Dialogue Initiative, in collaboration with University of Connecticut’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and Office of Community Outreach, hosted a student-led dialogue on voting and voter participation in the Student Union. With the election fast approaching, it is more important than ever to be politically educated and involved. This dialogue centered on issues regarding voting and voter participation at the local, state and national level. It also gave participants an opportunity to discuss potential reasons and solutions for the voting problems seen in America.
This event is part of a larger series of dialogues from the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute. These “Encounters” style dialogues are meant to foster conversations about divisive issues through facilitated small group discussions, followed by a Q&A session with UConn faculty and experts. The goal of these style dialogues is for students to become better at understanding, communicating and challenging their political views.
To begin this event, a brief overview of the history of voting was given. The original Constitution did not protect the right to vote. It was not until the 15th amendment was ratified in 1870 that people other than white, property-owning men were able to vote. The ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 extended voting rights to white women, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended voting rights to all African Americans. It also banned discriminatory practices like literacy tests, allowing people to have an easier opportunity to vote.
The first section of the dialogue consisted of three rounds of conversation. Before each round, some media was presented to prompt thought about the topics. The first round focused on quantity vs. quality. A quote from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was presented — “I do not think the mere extension of the ballot a panacea for all the ills of our national life. What we need to- day is not simply more voters, but better voters.” A political cartoon from Nick Anderson was also presented, showing the irony of how many people don’t vote because they believe their vote doesn’t matter. The questions for this section included: what does it mean to be a “better voter?” How did you feel voting for the first time? How did you feel if you did not vote? What comes to mind when looking at the quote and the political cartoon? Students were given two minutes each to answer any combination of questions. One student was allowed to answer during those two minutes and this repeated for all five students in a group. Common answers among the groups included whether students should vote in their hometown elections, despite not living there anymore, how it felt voting in local elections vs. presidential elections and how one way of being a “better voter” is by educating yourself on both candidates.
The second round of conversation focused on election integrity and access. The first media showed a video on voter suppression, including banning certain voting methods and banning handing out water in voting lines. The second media showed was an excerpt from Georgia’s Election Integrity Act of 2021. Unlike the first round, this round was 10 minutes of open discussion, meaning anyone could talk during the allotted time. This round focused on these questions: have you or anyone you know had an experience that made you/them believe voting fraud or voter suppression was happening? Are you concerned about election integrity? Common answers during this round were worries about whether all eligible voters are able to vote instead of if elections are rigged.
The third and final round of conversations focused on getting out to vote. A video from Carol Anderson was shown on the effects of voter suppression. It specifically mentioned making sure you are on the list of registered voters because there is a history of purging the lists before elections. Similar to the second round, this round was also 10 minutes of open discussions. The questions for this round included: how should we increase voter participation in UConn and more broadly? How do we help members of our community become better voters? Common answers included becoming more educated yourself, focusing on understanding the sides of both candidates and having small discussions with friends about politics. In these discussions, it was noted it is best to focus on the next steps or ways to get involved, especially if they aren’t as educated or are just voting for the first time.
To wrap up the event, groups participated in an activity of writing down “concrete steps we can take as a community, as an institution and as individuals to build a more robust and responsive democracy” on a piece of paper and presenting their answers to the other groups. One specific step written down by many groups was expanding civic education. It was suggested by a group to add a component of civic education to first-year-experience courses. Another group suggested making both voting information and actual voting more accessible to UConn students.
After the conclusion of the event, students were invited to mingle and ask questions to the faculty about voting and voter participation. Light refreshments were also served.
Election day is Nov. 5 — to register to vote, please visit: https://vote.gov/, and to learn more about voting at UConn, please visit: https://communityoutreach.uconn.edu/voting-information/