Student Congress President Zack Thomas and OUSC Legislative Affairs Director Sophia Polsinelli have launched an initiative promoting the voting website TurboVote in an effort to boost voter registration and turnout.

TurboVote is an online-based registration service owned by non-profit Democracy Works. Its aim is to help make registering to vote an easier process.

The website is designed to make registering easy. All one has to do is fill out their basic information online.  

Completed registration forms will then be mailed to the voter, who has to sign their name and mail the forms back in a pre-addressed envelope.

The website will send voters information regarding candidates and political events in their area, as well as poll locations and hours.

TurboVote is for more than just registering to vote, as it will allow students who live outside of their voting district the opportunity to obtain an absentee ballot.

The main requirement for an absentee ballot in Michigan is that the voter must have already voted in-person during a previous election or have registered in-person.

This would allow many on-campus residents who voted in the 2016 primaries, or who have already registered in-person, the opportunity to vote in the general election.

The TurboVote initiative comes at a time when, according to Thomas, the number of Millennials voters rival that of the Baby Boomers, America’s largest voting group. Despite this fact, Millennial voters are fairly scarce.

Thomas believes there are two reasons for this.

“There are two problems,” Thomas said. “The first issue being registration, and the second is vote participation.”

He hopes that by promoting TurboVote the OUSC will help get more OU students out to the polls during the upcoming presidential primary.

This fall, the OUSC will have tables in the Oakland Center and in the residence halls promoting and encouraging students to register.  They will also continue to give away OU swag packs to students who register.

Students looking to vote in November should be sure have the correct registration forms mailed to the state by October 11. Thomas believes students should mail their forms at least a week before the October 11 deadline.

Luckily for students, the mobile Secretary of State will be on campus October 3, giving students the opportunity to register in person. They will be set up outside of North Foundation Hall at 11 a.m.

With both TurboVote and the mobile Secretary of State on campus there will be countless opportunities for OU students to register to vote.  Visit turbovote.org to register.