Try as one might there is no escaping this election season. Every media outlet one frequents tends to have at least one article a day covering one of the infamous candidates for the presidency. Even if one turns on the TV hoping to enjoy Saturday Night Live after a long week of work and school there is no outlet from the hype of this particular election.

As much as some might wish for the 2016 election to be over the most important is yet to come. On November 8 we will all have a chance to cast our vote for the President of the United States.

According to Steve Simon, Minnesota’s Secretary of State, voting is “an expression of power, a voice, and should not be given up lightly.”

Simon has headed an initiative called the College Ballot Bowl at Minnesota colleges to encourage students to get out and vote. Minnesota had the highest voter turnout nine times in a row until 2014 when and then we were surpassed by a surge of enthusiasm for voting in other states around the country.

The Ballot Bowl is a challenge Simon is using in hopes  of getting Minnesota back to number one in voter turnout in the nation.

The goal of the Ballot Bowl is to create a sense of competition between colleges to have the most students pre-registered to vote by November 8. The competition is spurred by students’s innate need to compete and win. The colleges with the biggest register turnout overall and with the highest ratio will receive a prize at the end of the College Ballot Bowl.

It was decided to target college students, ages 18-24,
because in 2014 only 20% of that age group voted. Although this may be because it was not a presidential election year, in 2012 a little over 50% of the age group voted compared to 70% for the other age groups in Minnesota.

Challenging colleges to have the most students pre-registered before November 8, was tried in other states and Simon decided to adopt the method and make it his own for Minnesota. He and those helping him have done intense outreach to a large amount of colleges in Minnesota–and the type of college does not matter, as long as students are registering to vote.

“You turn 18 you get a lot of things, but you also get formal political power and if you give it up by not using it someone else will sweep it up.” – Steve Simon

He believes that Minnesota lost the number one voter turnout because other states “upped their game” and we have “a steady level of voters registered and other states had a surge of voters.”

“Enthusiasm [has been] tremendous” Simon said.

Moreover, college students are being targeted because they have a direct stake in the turnout of the vote. The students are the group that will have to live with the decision for a majority of their lives.

“You turn 18 you get a lot of things, but you also get formal political power and if you give it up by not using it someone else will sweep it up,” he said

It is believed that voters are deterred from voting because of a lack of information about what the rules are surrounding voting.

Simon has spent time door knocking and many people say they cannot vote because they are not registered. Little do they know, they can register to vote on election day or beforehand online.

He also believes that there is disillusionment towards the process or candidates in this country. Lawmakers can pass all the laws they want, but if someone is disappointed it is nearly impossible to change their mind. Although this may be true, Simon wants people to ignore the urge to avoid voting because of this.

Voting means a lot to Simon personally, but he mainly
believes that it is a way to
express one’s political power and flex their democratic rights.

The message of his initiative is for college students to stand up and not give up their right to vote.

Politics have played a role in Simon’s life since his early childhood. He was fascinated by current events as a child and faithfully followed the news.

As he continued following what was happening around him he began to form opinions about the outcomes of political elections and decisions made in the United States.

This in turn inspired him to become involved in politics and is why he ended up in his position as Minnesota’s Secretary of State today.

This election season is clearly an important one. As Simon aptly put it “no one can say with a straight face that the world will be the same if one or the other candidates is elected.”

Not only is it important
because of the presidential election, it is vital on the local level as well.

Many people walk into the polling booths with an idea of who they are going to vote for in the presidental election, but not for local lawmakers.

It is important to educate yourself on this level as well and you can do so at mnvotes.org and choosing My Ballot and entering your address.

Upon doing so a sample ballot for your voting area will appear as well as links to their campaign websites.