In anticipation of the November election, the Associated Students at the University of Nebraska (ASUN) Government Liaison Committee is helping students register to vote. The committee joined the Vote B1G initiative and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge to increase voter registration and civic engagement on college campuses. The Vote B1G initiative seeks to register 30,000 Big Ten students as voters, and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national competition among colleges that awards campuses with a high number of civically engaged students.

To register students, ASUN hosts voter registration drives on campus through TurboVote, a registration website used throughout the nation. ASUN also provides information to residence halls and Greek houses about where and how both in- and out-of-state students can vote. Efforts at registering students to vote in Nebraska were successful in the past; in 2014, Nebraska had one of the highest student turnouts for voting.

Amidst the challenge of people choosing not to vote because they cannot choose a presidential candidate, the committee reminds students that their vote does more than help decide the next president.

“Highlighting local issues is what we try to focus on,” said Ashtyn Shrewsbury, chair of the Government Liaison Committee. “We try to remind [students] that there are many local and state issues on the ballot that will directly affect them.”

The ASUN committee communicates to students that no matter what political affiliation you associate yourself with, it is important to stay civically engaged and to participate in politics through voting.

“Voting is one of the core fundamental rights we have as Americans,” said Shrewsbury. “It's important that college students take part in it.”