Dear American University Administration, 

My name is Kayla Kelly and I'm a current freshman at American University. I'd like to bring to the attention to you all that the United States historically has an abysmal voter turnout rate for both general and midterm elections, severely weakening our civic institutions and democratic process. In the 2016 elections, only 55.7% of Americans voted. Student participation in elections has been recorded as even lower than the average voter turnout rate; Voter turnout among 18- to 29-year-olds went from 20 percent in 2014 to 36 percent in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The 79 percent jump was the largest percentage-point increase for any age group, the bureau said.

American University, as a campus known for having the most politically-active students and student civic engagement, should continue its leadership in this realm by making Election Days non-instructional days on campus.

On this day, no classes will occur, but the mandate would not interfere with nor prohibit any other campus activities, occurrences, or events. The fall semester typically starts around the 24th of August. To account for the lost day of classes resulting from making Election Day a non-instructional day, we propose that we have class on the 4th Tuesday in November, where originally Tuesday classes were cancelled. If this isn’t plausible, then I propose that students should be given the opportunity to have an excused absence in their classes.

In most major studies conducted on why citizens didn’t vote, the primary reason is lack of time. Time constraints, such as midterms, class, extracurricular activities, jobs, and health and counseling appointments, in aggregate, seriously hinder students’ ability to carve out an appropriate amount of time in their schedule to go to a polling station and vote. The barriers to voting are much more intense for several other groups, such as Black people and other racial minorities. It is imperative that as many students as possible vote while still in college as studies have shown that voting at a young age increases your likelihood for voting for the rest of your life.

Calling a day off on Election Day is certainly not a new idea. Many DC businesses close their doors or give their employees paid work time to vote. But not that many U.S. colleges do. AU can set an example and give students and faculty a day off. In doing so, the University will be sending a message to students that in the end, they must prioritize the future of the nation over their personal commitments. 

Election Day and the significance it holds to our democracy should be better honored by mandating that the day of be a non-instructional day at American University. In doing so, students will have substantial time to fulfill their civic duty, which will increase student voter turnout both for the current election cycle and for election cycles to come. Election Day’s importance as a keystone of our democracy will also be better recognized on our campus.

I'll be willing to work alongside with Administration to ensure that this happens.