York County is hosting six early voting locations for this November’s general election. On Monday alone, the first day of early voting in South Carolina, 8,858 voters – 4.5% of the county’s registered voters – cast a ballot.
One of York County’s early voting sites is at York Technical College in Rock Hill, which saw 1,463 first-day early voters. And the school is hoping that the presence of a voting site – especially such a busy one – on its campus will encourage students to vote.
“That was very intentional,” said Stacey Moore, president of York Tech. “We hope that it creates more opportunities for civic engagement for our students.”
Moore said that putting the polling site on campus, at the Baxter M. Hood Center, started when the South Carolina Election Commission called and asked if the college would be interested in being a voting site.
“We jumped on it,” Moore said.
That jump was an extension of work York Tech did to get students registered and interested in voting in the first place.
“We had voter registration happening and everybody talking to students about the importance of [voting],” she said.
The college has hosted registration drives and public information events for the students – often with the assistance of food trucks to help lure students to the gatherings – as a way to “capitalize and maximize on … educating and events and activities that would help further students in terms of their awareness of civic engagement in general,” Moore said.
But now that voting time is here, the question, of course, is whether having early voting on campus encourages students to get to the polls?
“Yeah, it does,” said Maddux Nielsen, a student at York Tech. “I would appreciate that being on campus.”
At age 20, Nielsen is voting in his first presidential election.
“I’m excited to vote,” he said. “But … I’m not super invested in this year's election. I don't really care which side wins, I'm just excited to vote.”
Nielsen said he hasn’t done enough research on any candidates. In the presidential race, he’s leaning, if only a little, towards Kamala Harris.
“I'm big on the environment [and] overpriced education,” he said. “So that's kind of what I'm looking forward to contributing to and seeing more of from whoever wins the election. I'm looking more towards Kamala right now, just from past experiences with [Donald] Trump, but I'm still kind of on the edge.”
A classmate of Nielsen’s, Caleb Collins, who also is voting for the first time in a presidential election, is more sure of his choice, but again, only a little.
“I think immigration is probably our biggest problem,” Collins said. “I'm probably leaning towards Trump, if I'm being honest, because I think he did a lot of stuff with the border, and I think he gave a lot of people new jobs.”
If Nielsen and Collins are still a little uncertain about their choices, they do agree that having an early voting center on campus makes them want to vote.
“It definitely encourages me to vote,” Collins said. “I think it's important for everybody to vote.”
Classmate Gabe Hobbs also is leaning towards Trump, out of concerns over inflation and gas prices.
Hobbs wasn’t aware that there’s an early voting site on campus, but said that now that he knows, he will likely head over to the Hood Center and get in line.
“I was going to wait till Election Day itself, but I might do some early voting,” he said. “And it'll be my first time.”
Victoria Watson graduated from York Tech last year, but said the presence of an early voting site on campus is a benefit to the students.
“Having early voting on campus is really important, especially for people that can't get to vote on Election Day,” Watson said.
She sat out the first day of early voting because the line was so long. But she is eager to cast her ballot and is motivated to do so on the issue of abortion.
“Women's rights. It's a huge thing for me,” she said. “When Roe v. Wade was overturned, just waking up one day and having less rights, that was just crazy to me. It was just surreal.”
For the school’s part, Moore is happy to know students want to vote, whoever they choose.
“We are the equivalent of Switzerland in a battle and we are totally neutral,” Moore said.
What’s important, she said, is “voting and having a voice.”
