PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University opened its official voting hub today at the CUB Senior Ballroom encouraging students and community members to come in and register to vote in person, pick up voter pamphlets, print ballots and vote.
The student engagement hub is one of many across Washington state and acts as a centralized, one-stop shop for students and community members to vote in the 2024 General Election.
Voting hub volunteers like Jacob Norris are helping to direct voters with questions or issues in the right direction.
“It’s fun to see people coming in to vote," said Norris.
The center will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day and seeks to make voting more accessible, especially for those who may be voting for the first time.
On the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 4, volunteers tallied 300 people coming in to vote and they expect it to be even busier on Tuesday, Election Day.
"It's super convenient. The presidential election if kind of a big deal. So I felt like it was important for me to come out," said WSU Senior Aster Bork.
The student engagement hub on WSU’s campus was made following Washington state law after state lawmakers mandated all higher education institutes to have a place on campus for voting services beginning in 2020.
The only other election center in Whitman County is the elections office in Colfax, so students say having voting services on campus is a welcomed convenience for those who are eager to participate in this year’s election.
"It's really nice to have it on campus, especially since I live on campus. It was super quick and easy and everyone was really nice and helpful," said WSU Freshman Maritza Valencia.