Student organization members reflect on 2020 election season

Election day is Tuesday, and members of organizations, fellowships, communities and political parties across the state have prepared for months.

Members have hosted watch parties, attended events, organized campaigns and made numerous phone calls to inform people of local, state and national candidates. This includes members of political and civic engagement organizations at ETSU who have also been heavily engaged in this election season.

Tiffany Dang is a senior at ETSU who works with the Democracy Fellows through ETSU Votes.

“I think it’s important, especially as young kids, to really go out and talk about what we believe in, and what we want to see for our country and government,” said Dang.

Sophomore Rachel Harrington works with the Conservative Coalition at ETSU. Harrington has been involved in politics since high school.

“I just think it’s very important to be involved, regardless of your beliefs on things,” said Harrington.

Harrington said it has been difficult to get people involved because of the pandemic, but even though less people are on campus, their organization has tried to talk to as many people as they can.

“We table at least once a week, just to give out information about candidates and stuff like that,” Harrington said. “We also register people to vote if they aren’t registered to vote.”

Connor McClelland has also been very involved in the election. He works as a city commission campaign field director, and he is the chair of the ETSU chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America.

“We are seeing a higher turnout this election,” said McClelland. “But I would also say that it’s been hard at times to really keep young people engaged in the political process.”

“There’s a lot that goes into the final vote that people don’t talk about,” said Claire Alfonso, another member of YDSA.

Alfonso listed the complexities behind the process of voting, from registering, to researching who is running, to finding a sample ballot. She said it is not just a one-step process.

“You’re vote matters,” said Dang. “Especially now.”

Harrington expressed a similar conviction, emphasizing the importance of involvement in all types of elections.

“Make sure you try to look into local elections, because those are honestly more important than presidential elections anyway,” said Harrington.

“Don’t get discouraged,” said Alfonso.

At the end of the day, any involvement in election processes, be it at the local or national level, small or large, matters.