\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

As students venture away from home to college, they face the decision of whether to maintain their voting registration at home or update it to reflect their campus address \u2014 that is, if they\u2019re registered in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alyssa Johnson, coordinator of service and outreach for the non-partisan civic engagement group OSU Votes, said after moving to college, some students may choose to stay registered to their home address because they feel a greater affinity and connection to their community\u2019s issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Anna Moore did. Moore, a third-year in international studies and German, said she will return home to vote early in Cincinnati. She said the Hamilton County Board of Elections is only open one full weekend in October, and joked that she hopes she doesn\u2019t have COVID-19 that weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moore said she keeps her voter registration in Cincinnati because she is invested in her hometown\u2019s politics and more familiar with Cincinnati\u2019s council members, mayor and general issues than Columbus\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t feel that integrated into the Columbus community,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m in the Ohio State community, but I think the greater Columbus area, I\u2019m not really involved in.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Students who can\u2019t return home like Moore are required to take additional steps to vote \u2014 including applying for an absentee ballot and returning it before Election Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStamps and envelopes and having access to a printer creates these barriers where it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, this is going to take me seven steps to vote. I would prefer it to only be one, so I\u2019m just going to watch Netflix instead,\u2019\u201d Johnson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beck said that Trump\u2019s overt skepticism around fraud with mail-in ballots may discourage some from casting their vote in the first place out of fear that it won\u2019t be counted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there\u2019s confusion, people who have low motivation are simply going to bow out. They won\u2019t participate,\u201d Beck said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During Tuesday\u2019s presidential debate, Trump said mail-in ballots will lead to \u201cfraud like you\u2019ve never seen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading up to the debate, Trump said that Democrats will mail out 80 million \u201cunsolicited\u201d ballots in an attempt to garner votes for Biden. Nine states and the District of Columbia will automatically send absentee ballots by mail to registered voters, totaling about 44 million ballots.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Prior to COVID-19, five states already had mail-in voting procedures with automatic ballots in place. A Washington Post and Electronic Registration Information Center analysis of mail-in voting in Colorado, Oregon and Washington revealed that only one in 40,000 of the 14.6 million votes cast by mail in 2016 were flagged as fraudulent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all about trying to dissuade people from voting because he\u2019s trying to scare people into thinking it\u2019s not going to be legitimate,\u201d Biden said Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Claire Cornellier, a third-year in microbiology, said she will be voting absentee in Michigan because, like Moore, she is more in tune with issues in her home state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about the pandemic and going in to vote early, which I could do if I went home,\u201d Cornellier said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cornellier said although she opted to vote absentee by mail, she has concerns over the Postal Service handling her ballot given Trump\u2019s recent question over the legitimacy of mail-in voting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Instead of mailing the completed ballot back to her hometown, Cornellier said she will give it to her parents when they visit campus in October to hand-deliver to the county board of elections in Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to go through the mail, it\u2019s going to go directly to the counters. So, hopefully my ballot will be counted,\u201d Cornellier said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The increase of mail-in absentee voting is already becoming evident compared to past years. According to the Ohio Secretary of State website, nearly 1.8 million absentee ballots have been requested as of Sept. 22, which marks six weeks out from the election. Only 805,844 absentee ballots had been requested six weeks out from the 2016 election.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

The surge in absentee ballot requests indicates voters may be voting absentee for the first time this year due to COVID-19. The increased reliance on absentee voting means that absentee ballots could have a major influence \u2014 or even determine a close election \u2014 if they\u2019re mailed on time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although absentee voting rules differ by state, a ballot may be discarded in Ohio if it\u2019s not postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by the board of elections within 10 days of the election. The board of elections then has until Nov. 24 to declare official results.<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

{rel}","templated":true}]}}