{"id":428987,"date":"2026-10-15T23:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T23:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/428987\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T23:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T23:42:07","slug":"voter-apathy-whats-pushing-students-to-the-polls-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/428987\/","title":{"rendered":"Voter apathy: what\u2019s pushing students to the polls?\u00a0 \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A woman signing up to vote at a polling place (Adobe Stock \/ Drazen)<\/p>\n

As midterm elections quickly approach, the determination of\u00a0Florida A&M University students to vote is split evenly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For some, Election Day is a long-awaited date that warrants extensive research and\u00a0preparation. However, for others, Election Day is simply another date on the calendar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While FAMU sits in Tallahassee, Florida, a mere 10 blocks away from the Florida State Capitol, proximity doesn\u2019t always mean presence. \u00a0<\/p>\n

According to LeonVotes.Gov<\/a>, despite over 2,750 students living on campus during the fall semester of 2024.\u00a0Only 1,445 voters turned out to the on-campus polls during the 2024 election season. \u00a0<\/p>\n

At Florida State University, over 7,336 voters came out. Voter apathy is a common source of low turnout rates, as is a lack of understanding of who\u2019s on the ballot or what\u2019s at stake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many students are taking matters into their own hands, informing and educating themselves\u00a0about the candidates on the ballot and the issues discussed during this year\u2019s election. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Others remain unmotivated to vote, as they feel they may not be sufficiently informed to cast a ballot this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really haven\u2019t really had the time to inform myself of the way I would like to. Typically, I vote or lean more Democratic, but because of studies and parenting, I haven\u2019t had the opportunity to be as educated as I normally am,\u201d said Dre\u00a0McIntosh, a fourth-year student.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Busy lives and schedules are among the common reasons many students stated they aren\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n

informed. However, students like Zarian Gaines feel that the university could take more proactive measures to inform and motivate students to vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHost events, but really advertise them like they would a fun event, like a crab boil or \u2018Set\u00a0Friday\u2019,\u201d stated Gaines. \u201cThis should have the same kind of outreach for something that is gonna be affecting me and my compatriots every single day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the other hand, many other students are conducting research on their own to ensure they are prepared to make their vote count in this year\u2019s general election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to have to take a day before the election to just sit down and read everything. And\u00a0I would like to talk to my mom about politics too,\u201d Ava Gant, a second-year student, said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early voting this year begins on Oct. 19 and extends to Election Day on Nov. 3\u00a0with voting areas located both on campus at the FAMU Efferson Student Union and at various locations around Leon County.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman signing up to vote at a polling place (Adobe Stock \/ Drazen) As midterm elections quickly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-428987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}