Leon County Supervisor of Elections<\/a>, all registered voters in the county can vote on its local ballot questions, giving college students registered in Leon County a say in those decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\nIyriana Lloyd, a sophomore philosophy student from Baltimore, Maryland, said she follows elections in both Florida and Maryland but pays closer attention to Florida politics while attending FAMU. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, she said finding jobs, financial assistance and support as an out-of-state student has been difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not from here, you\u2019re put on the back burner,\u201d Lloyd said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those experiences have led her to question whether politicians prioritize college students or longtime residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what would be the extent of my vote because they wouldn\u2019t be supporting me anyway,\u201d Lloyd said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lloyd said she tried to register to vote in Florida but described the attempt as unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Denise Tate, a junior animal science student from Carthage, Mississippi, on a pre-veterinary track, believes that students should stay involved in local issues to help create opportunities for future FAMU students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tate said she pays attention to Tallahassee elections because local decisions affect her while she lives here. She also follows elections back home through conversations with family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there\u2019s a disconnect between the community and the university,\u201d Tate said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tate believes strengthening that relationship means considering how students can improve both FAMU and the surrounding community. Even those who leave after graduation should help create opportunities for those who remain, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tate encouraged upperclassmen to consider how they can support future students in Tallahassee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, making sure that you, as a senior, [or] a junior, are doing what you can to help still provide opportunities,\u201d Tate said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Two \u201cI Voted\u201d stickers from Leon County\u2019s 2026 election. (Nia Sessions\/The FAMUAN)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tracary Cox, a third-year criminal justice scholar from Broward County, Florida, said his connection to Tallahassee gives him a reason to stay involved in local elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI consider both places my home,\u201d Cox said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cox said his connection to Tallahassee extends beyond attending classes. He described the city as a place where he has learned and grown personally, giving him a reason to care about Tallahassee\u2019s future even after he leaves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Registered to vote in Leon County, Cox explained that he follows Tallahassee politics more closely because he lives in the city while attending FAMU. Gun safety and the cost of living are among his priorities, though he questioned how seriously local leaders take students\u2019 concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCollege students are often disregarded as still being children,\u201d Cox said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite those concerns, Cox believes participating in elections is a responsibility, particularly as a Black man from an immigrant family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe easiest part, personally for me, is getting up to go vote,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I really have the luxury of being like, \u2018Oh, this is too hard.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FAMU students Jerome Williams (left) and Michael Hargrove pose with an \u201cI Voted\u201d sign outside a polling location…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-446362","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\/446362","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=446362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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