The right to vote is considered a core right of citizenship in America. Since COVID-19 struck the nation, people are choosing to vote in a number of different ways. In a poll with 33 respondents, students at RWU shared how they will be casting their votes this year.

76% of the students surveyed will be utilizing mail-in voting, either through absentee or regular mail-in ballots. Despite any doubts, this is actually a safe option and accounts for less than 1% of voter fraud.

24% of student respondents said they would be voting in-person this November. The university usually has a polling station but was unable to do so this year due to the pandemic.

The poll asked students what they think of this year’s election. There turned out to be a lot of similar responses, including statements like “Both candidates are bad,” “This election is more important than previous ones,” and “It’s sad and chaotic.” Based on the responses, it seems as though a lot of the students are afraid of the outcome, no matter who wins. Tensions are high and this election is putting a lot of stress on the students at RWU. In addition, this election looks rather different than any others, in the aspect that none of the candidates are following precedents set forth by their predecessors.

“I think this election is doing a poor job of representing how democracy should work because it’s supposed to be for and by the people,” said freshman Paloma Bellizzi.

“I think this election is incredibly important as it will shape the future of the U.S. and each path that future could take is radically different from the other,” said junior Michaela Aptt.

This election could possibly change the way in which the United States runs, for better or for worse, and no one really knows which candidate is going to represent the people in the way a president should. This doesn’t mean that people don’t believe one candidate is better than the other — it means that people don’t know what to believe. At this point, a lot of students believe they are simply choosing the lesser of two evils with whichever candidate they choose, instead of choosing a candidate they think is actually fit for the position.

The All In Committee here at RWU, which is co-chaired by Student Body Secretary Adam Cavanaugh and Director of the Feinstein Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement K.C. Ferrara, has resources available that teach the RWU community about how to cast a ballot or register to vote. Free postage is available at the Mail Center to send in ballots.