New voting hubs help college students vote

Little did most people know when Washington state lawmakers passed legislation to improve student accessibility to voting that COVID-19 would still turn our lives upside down once the 2020 general election got rolling.

But at the beginning of November 2020 the virus was still raging. Classrooms, laboratories, and lecture halls were empty. Most of the courses were offered online.

Nathalie Wagler, an environmental science student at Western Washington University, said the university resembled a ghost town. Even so, students and the public turned to campus to register, print out their ballot papers, and cast them on election day.

“We helped about 80 people that day,” said Wagler, who helped set up Western’s Student Engagement Hub. “I think it turned out wonderful and we were very satisfied.”

The creation of 10 student engagement centers – or hubs – was the cornerstone of the Law on Choices through Education, which legislature passed in March 2020.

The bill also resulted in hubs at Washington State University Tri-Cities in Benton County, WSU Vancouver in Clark County, University of Washington and the University of Washington at Bothell in King County, Central Washington University in Kittitas County, the university of Washington at Tacoma in Pierce County, Eastern Washington University in Spokane County, Evergreen State College in Thurston County, and Washington State University in Whitman County.

Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick said her office had offered training to enable students and others to access VoteWA, an online voting support site. Her office also helped them get a replacement ballot online and allowed students to connect to the auditorium to enroll.

Bradrick said her office followed protocol to ensure the integrity of the ballot papers.

“The ballot boxes were sealed with a sealed log by two people and treated like any other official mailbox, secured and serviced by my staff in teams of two,” said Bradrick.

Wagler, who is from Billings, said a number of people needed help.

“We had a lot of people who had to re-register, people whose ballots were sent to their parents’ homes.”

COVID-19 required adjustments to the original plans.

“That was a big challenge,” said Wagler. “The campus was essentially closed and we only had a small number of students on campus.”

While some campus hubs were open a few days before election day, Westerns were limited in their opening times.

“The auditor suggested that we just do election day and that we are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” said Wagler.

Despite the reduced working hours, people appreciated the service.

“A lot of people said they wouldn’t have voted if the hub wasn’t there,” said Wagler.

The majority of Western students are not from Bellingham, she added.