On Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m., ETSU Votes with Leadership and Civic Engagement hosted their 2024 Election Results Watch Party where they provided live streams of the election aired through various news channels to provide full coverage. The event was moved from its previous location in the East Tennessee Room to take place in the Cave inside the D.P. Culp Student Center after great enthusiasm was shown for maximum attendee capacity.
Throughout the airing, food, activities and merch were available to encourage and elevate participant involvement.
Sophomore Elizabeth Denise is the co-chair of ETSU Votes and works to advocate the rising importance of voting as a citizen. Encouraging political participation, Denise vitalizes the need to be educated on governmental matters, not only during the crucial time leading up to the election, but all year around.
Learning from past ETSU Votes events, the team worked to transform this high-tension period for many into a stress-free, interactive experience by implementing activities for attendees to follow and engage with as they watch. Some of these include a game of election night bingo and, new to this year, a United States map activity where participants will fill out a map according to their guesses on state results, and the closest estimate will win an ETSU Votes swag pack of merch.
“It really encourages people to think seriously about what they think the results will be and why,” Denise said on including election day activities.
Looking forward, Leadership and Civic Engagement will work to amplify and maintain the relevance of government importance, expressing the necessity of staying tuned into government matters consistently regardless of the date. They will focus on creating more opportunities for students to get involved in civic engagement with workshops and events that will allow meetings between local candidates, local representatives and more. To learn more about ETSU Votes and Leadership and Civic Engagement, visit https://www.etsu.edu/students/sao/organizations/civicengagement/voterregistration.php.
