In honor of National Voter Registration Day, council members, educational advisers and students gathered at RCC to discuss the importance of voting.
Educational adviser Douglass Johnson and grants administrative specialist Maurice Bowers hosted a non-partisan voting initiative called “Tigers Taking Action: Voting Matters” on Sept. 17 in the Language Humanities and Social Sciences Engagement Center. Johnson and Bowers are currently on a committee to bring voting booths to campus, and their hope is to make the process of voting more accessible for students.
The RCC staff welcomed Elena Baca-Santa Cruz, councilmember representing district 1 of Moreno Valley, to empower students to vote in local and presidential elections after noticing a lack of voters in recent years.
“Six years ago, there was an election that was won by seven votes,” she said. “My whole house could have swayed one way or the other. You have the power to decide who’s gonna be in charge.”
She addressed why there is a lack of involvement in local elections, stating that ballots can be long and intimidating, but Baca-Santa Cruz advised students to invest their time into learning about the candidates and policies they are voting for.
“Grab that ballot,” she said. “Take notes on it. Take some time with it, but if you are afraid you are going to get fatigued, start at the bottom. That is where you have the most power.”
Baca-Santa Cruz took the next step to motivate students to get involved if they do not agree with what they are voting on. Students can vote candidates in to represent their needs in the community. “If you don’t like what’s going on, then you need to step up and be a part of that solution,” Baca-Santa Cruz said. “If you don’t like the leaders, then you have to become them.”
Supreme court justice of ASRCC Adela Gonzalez also appeared at the event, offering support to students with concerns on campus.
“If you have something you want to talk about, we can definitely get you to a specific dean if there’s something in particular that needs to be done,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez added that the school hopes to host an open-campus forum where students can meet with local political candidates.
Maurice Bowers urged students to check their registration status before casting their vote.
“Regardless of your age, you have a say in the way that your present and future goes,” Bowers said. “We’re seeing issues of voter suppression, meaning you may be registered to vote, but then all of a sudden your registration status either becomes inactive and you’ve been voting, or you’ve been taken off a voter role.”
“It is not to tell you who to vote for,” Bowers concluded. “The intention is for you to know how serious it is to vote.”
Student Dominic Medina contributed his opinion to the conversation. “I think it’s important for students to vote just so they have a say of what goes on, at least to vote locally, to have a say of what goes on in the local community,” Medina said. “I think community is really important, and people don’t really value it as much anymore, at least people our age.”
In the state of California, citizens can register and vote the same day. To register to vote, students can go to Voter Registration Application or check their voter status at My Voter Status.
