UC Davis students vote by ballot drop box and in-person voting

PHOTO: In front of the official ballot drop box in UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center, voter assistants help voters put their ballots in for the 2020 Presidential election. They check if the voters have signed and sealed their ballots properly so it will be counted for this election (Photo: S. Kim).

By Sarah Kim,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Many UC Davis students dropped off their ballots and voted in person today in the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), one of the voter assistance centers in Yolo County for the 2020 election. 

In-person voting was done inside of the UC Davis ARC center and although it was not crowded, students often entered the building with their friends, ready to vote. Right in front of the center, there was the official ballot drop box assisted by Yolo County poll workers, who were checking if each ballot was signed and sealed properly. 

For UC Davis juniors Alice Mathew, Noelle Domke, and Karen Chen, it is their first time voting in the presidential election, although they all voted in the 2018 midterm election. Chen says that it’s important to “exercise their rights in this election for democracy.” 

As science majors, they say their most important issue is environmental protection, but their other priority issues are prison reform, systematic racism and COVID-19 relief programs.  

Mathew and Domke decided to vote in person on Election Day as they needed more time to research the propositions, candidates and their positions before filling out their ballots today.

“Since it’s my first time voting in the presidential election, I wanted to make it like a tradition by voting on Election Day,” Mathew said. 

As students, Domke and Chen got a lot of information from their classes that discussed this year’s election, which helped them make their voting decisions after also putting in outside research. 

“Youth are the future and, as people who are currently learning and able to learn, it’s important to exercise that right by voting this year,” Domke said.