After back and forth between the newly formed WKU Student Voting Advocacy Committee and state and local government, there won’t be an on-campus polling location this November election season.
The WKU Student Voting Advocacy Committee formed this semester with the initiative of lobbying County Clerk Lynette Yates and the Warren County Board of Elections to establish a more accessible polling location for students. It sent a formal request to the board with signed support of 33 student organizations on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Caden Lucas, a sophomore studying political science, legal studies and international affairs representing the WKU Pre-Law Student Association and Omicron Delta Kappa Honors Society, said “We were all approached by [Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Executive Director of WKU Housing and Residential Life] Catherine LaRoche to basically form this committee to advocate for there to be a polling location added to Western’s campus.”
The committee’s letter stated that 2024 marks the first year since the 1980s that a polling location was not established near WKU’s campus and suggested the Raymond B. Preston Center as an ideal location for accessible voting.
This year, the closest polling stations, listed on the Kentucky State Board of Elections website, are First Baptist Church and Warren Central High School, both a 40-minute walk round trip from campus.
“The Preston Center is our preferred location due to its central position on campus, ample parking, and overall facilities,” the committee stated in its request.
The committee cites a survey by the Herald stating that 91% of students would prefer an on-campus polling location. It also provided statistics from Democracy Counts 2020 stating an increase in voter turnout from 52% in 2016 to 66% in 2020.
An informal 2022 poll by the Herald showed 89% of respondents supported having a voting location on WKU’s campus.
The committee also included information on student involvement in events like presidential debate watch parties and voter tabling events. The letter ended with student testimonies detailing how going home to vote is not a feasible option and its desire for students to be part of the democratic process.
A letter from County Clerk Yates was sent to the committee on Sept. 16. rejecting the committee’s request based on the lack of public parking, the forced closure of the Preston Center and the low number of registered student voters.
Members of the WKU Student Voting Advocacy Committee disagreed with Yates’ arguments and, upon the rejection, sent an appeal to the Kentucky State Board of Elections the same day.
In an interview with the Herald, Ian White, a junior agriculture major, addressed the board’s concern with parking.
“We’ve been working with Parking and Transportation, and they have guaranteed that if this were to come into effect, that we would have public parking at Preston Center,” White said.
Regarding the closure of the Preston Center, the committee wrote to the state board that, “The Preston Center seemed eager to assist with getting this location added and was willing to comply with the required regulations.”
Yates stated in the letter that only 514 students living in residence halls were registered to vote, to which Lucas said the committee refuted.
“That is still 500 voters that you have a responsibility of ensuring that they have the access to vote, but then also a way larger majority of WKU students live off campus, and they were not accounted for in that number whatsoever,” said Lucas.
Lucas continued by saying that the majority of off-campus housing is still within close proximity to WKU and that a polling location at the Preston Center would be the best option for students living in off-campus housing.
Donte Reed, a senior biology major representing the Student Government Association, also said Yates’ count doesn’t include the number of students who haven’t yet registered to vote.
The committee members told the Herald that the Kentucky State Board of Elections was very supportive of their cause but did not have the authority to overturn the decision of the local board of election fully. Instead, the state board was able to submit the committee’s request to a state board staff committee.
The state board staff committee’s job was to review the Warren County voting plan. If the state board staff committee found a deficiency could be found within the current voting plan then they “disprove” the current voting plan.
Upon a disproval, everything would be sent back to County Clerk Yates. Yates could then consider the WKU Student Voting Committee’s proposal.
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the WKU Student Voting Committee received a letter from the State Board of Elections’ director Karen Sellers, stating that the current Warren County voting plan did not meet the requirements for disproval.
“There is nothing that suggests any circumstance from July 16th to September 17th created a situation in which the Warren County plan became one in which not enough voting locations were offered to the residents of Warren County or that the previously approved plan has now become unacceptable in quality,” Sellers’ letter stated,
With no change to the voting plan deemed necessary, there will be no further reviews of the WKU Student Voting Committee’s request for a polling location on campus.
News Reporter Anthony Clauson can be reached at [email protected].
