Dr. Ann Collins and Junior Naya Busbea Talk Midterm Voting During McKendree's Brown Bag Event
Lebanon, IL (10/31/2022) — Dr. Ann Collins, professor of political science, teamed up with junior Naya Busbea, a political science major at McKendree, to discuss midterm voting in a presentation called "What's Up with the Midterm Elections?" on Wednesday, Oct. 26 during the University's weekly Brown Bag event.
Dr. Collins presented information and graphs about past midterm elections, demonstrating the sizable increase in voting that has occurred during this time in recent years. "This year is probably on par with 2018, which was huge," she said.
Busbea, who is part of the University's All-In Committee on campus, stressed that the candidates who are running in the midterm elections will shape state policies for the next several years and urged attendees to vote.
"This will directly affect you, your loved ones, and others in your entire state," Busbea said.
Dr. Collins and Busbea also showed an example of a ballot from St. Clair County and the candidates and issues it will include this year. They also showed viewers how to access a sample ballot through the county's website so voters can prepare beforehand. The two encouraged attendees to research candidates and proposed policies before casting their votes.
Early voting this year is taking place now through November 7. Same-day registration and voting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
"If you're not registered to vote, you can vote here, so don't worry. We have a polling place on campus!" Dr. Collins said.
Finally, Busbea presented a brief campaign ad that she created for Dr. Collins' Campaigns and Elections course. The creative and patriotic ad pit Rabbit Jr. against Mr. Cat and attempted to persuade viewers to vote for Rabbit Jr.
The presentation was well-attended with plenty of interaction and questions between the presenters and attendees. Current students even discussed why some of them feel disenchanted with voting, including feeling intimidated by the ballots, not knowing what some policies mean or where some candidates stand, and feeling burned out by some of their peers who hold extreme views.
McKendree University's Brown Bag events take place every Wednesday at noon in PAC 222. A full list of upcoming Brown Bags can be found here.
