Classes do not stop for Election Day.
Young Tennesseans encounter significant barriers which prevent them from voting. The 2022 midterms showed Tennessee had one of the lowest young voter participation rates in the nation because only 13% of eligible 18- to 29-year-old voters voted. The voting issue stems from institutional problems rather than students’ disinterest.
Schedules play a big problem in this situation. Students at UT Martin need to manage their time between their extended travel to school, work responsibilities, academic requirements for labs, clinicals and scheduled course sections. The suggestion to vote during lunch breaks becomes meaningless because students only have brief time slots available between their 1 p.m. lab and their 3 p.m. work shift.
Students face three major voting challenges at college precincts because research shows they experience extended waiting times, confusing voting procedures and insufficient voting capacity during regular class hours.
Multiple educational institutions now view voting as an essential civic practice. George Washington University established Election Day 2024 as a university-wide holiday. The University of Kentucky established Election Day as an academic holiday which resulted in office closures and no class activities. The institutions demonstrate their commitment to education through their decision to include voting as part of their academic responsibilities.
The United States has only a small number of colleges that choose to suspend their academic activities on Election Day. A 2024 survey revealed that 86 colleges throughout the United States chose to close their classrooms on Election Day while representing only 2.2% of all degree-granting institutions. The lack of participation in Election Day activities prevents the development of lasting voter engagement practices.
UT Martin provides students with practical assistance for voting. The UT System provides its staff members with three hours of voting time when their work schedules interfere with voting hours. Students need equal voting rights as other citizens. The university should establish academic flexibility on Election Day to prevent students from facing a choice between their academic performance and their right to vote.
The proposed solutions do not need any changes to the academic schedule because they already exist.
- The university should establish Election Day as a no-class period for all undergraduate and graduate students during peak voting times. The university should establish a civic block period which bans all required classroom activities from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. (all classes including exams and labs).
- The university should establish official policies that grant students voting-related absences and flexible deadline options for poll work and voting conflict documentation.
- The university should establish voting practices that follow the best national standards. The university should become part of the ALL IN Presidents’ Commitment by establishing specific voting participation targets as institutional goals.
The issue here involves making choices between different values rather than supporting any particular political party. The matter at hand involves determining what matters most. Our educational mission to develop informed citizens leads us to treat student Tuesdays exactly like regular school days. The solution to enhance voter participation from Tennessee’s needed demographic at polling stations involves removing student penalties for democratic involvement.
The Faculty Senate, along with SGA and the Chancellor’s Office, needs to take immediate action by creating a no-class policy for Election Day or by implementing campus-wide academic flexibility. The university should integrate voting as an active learning component that students can experience without the need to choose between it and their academic work.
