Yeyya Wane Staff Writer
Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8th is Election Day. The 2022 midterm election raises all sorts of issues that affect young people like Penn State Altoona students. It is important now, more than ever, that young people take to the polls to make their voices heard. Aiden Conese, the President of Penn State Altoona’s Student Government Association, sat down with me to discuss a new initiative that SGA is pursuing: making Penn State Altoona into a polling place.
Why do you want to make PSA a polling place? What motivated you to take this on?
Aiden has always been involved with politics. For the past two summers, he has been working in a state senator’s office as an intern. In his words, Election Day is “like Super Bowl Sunday.” People living in any area, whether they grew up there or recently moved, are very likely to be familiar with their local college campus. So, if that college campus is a designated polling place, college age voters are more likely to vote, as they know where to go, said Aiden. This idea would also apply to non-college age voters in the surrounding community.
Aiden Conese, President of Penn State Altoona’s Student Government Association
Who will benefit from this?
Aiden believes that both Penn State Altoona students and the general Altoona community will benefit from this initiative. By making Penn State Altoona a polling place, Aiden hopes to improve student voter turnout. He talked about a recent statistic that he saw which showed that this year’s midterm elections have seen more college students going out to vote than ever before. He hopes that making Penn State Altoona a polling place will continue that trend.
How do you plan on making this possible? Who on your team (or outside of your team) is working on this with you?
SGA has been trying to reach out to the Blair County Board of Elections for quite some time. “They aren’t the most responsive”, said Aiden. The Government Affairs Committee of SGA is spearheading this initiative as well. “Unfortunately, we did not make a large enough effort last spring to contact the Board of Elections, so the Government Affairs Committee will be making a bigger effort this coming spring”. They are in charge of coordinating various political initiatives on campus. Tomorrow, from 8 to 10pm, they will be holding a watch party for the results of the midterm elections.
How long have you been wanting to make this happen?
Aiden and SGA have been trying to make Penn State Altoona into a polling place since last year. They are hoping to have this take effect by next year, in time for the municipal elections. Aiden is hoping that this initiative will, “put Penn State Altoona on the map for being a politically involved place.”
Do you have a message for Penn State Altoona, as Election Day is tomorrow?
“Go vote, go vote, go vote. No matter what you do tomorrow. Go to class, then go vote. Voting is one of the most civically important things you can do as a US citizen.”