To help students prepare for Michigan’s statewide general election on Nov. 8, Oakland University Student Congress (OUSC) gave out information about voting alongside slices of pizza during their Slice of Democracy event.

The event took place on Sept. 20 outside Elliott Tower. Students were treated to pizza from Little Caesars and some free items like lanyards and pins.

Due to the pandemic, OUSC was unable to put on this event for the past few years. They first held a similar event during the Student Program Board’s Carnival, advertising the same information to students.

OUSC’s Director of Executive Platform Jeremy Johnson said he was pleased with the turnout for Slice of Democracy.

“I’m not really sure what I expected, just because I haven’t ran too many events being back on campus just yet,” he said. “But I know that people are focused on politics right now — they’re paying attention to elections. And also, we have free stuff, which helps.” 

Voting is a strength of OU, named one of Washington Monthly’s Best Colleges for Student Voting in 2022. With a voter registration rate of 89.6% and a voter turnout rate of 81.9%, OU is above the average of other National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) colleges.

Statistics like these put OU in high regard, and they’re something student organizations like OUSC and the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) take pride in.

“As much as I want to claim all the credit, I can’t,” Johnson said. “There are other groups on campus that do a lot of work. Professor David Dulio and the Center for Civic Engagement do a lot of work.”

“2020 was obviously a very contentious election that got a lot of people interested,” he added. “OU has the fourth highest voter registration rate out of all the universities in the state, and it’s something to be proud of.”

Part of the reason behind the high voter registration rates is events like these, from which information on how to register as well as how to receive a mail-in ballot are made easily accessible. 

If students were unable to attend the event — which OUSC plans to repeat before Nov. 8 — they can go to OUSC’s website or GrizzOrgs page for information on voting and when upcoming events will take place.

With a lot of recent attention to politics in the news lately — as in the case of Roe v. Wade — Johnson feels more of the younger generation are becoming interested in politics as a whole.

“There are lots of big things happening, specifically with Supreme Court decisions — lots of big legislation that has passed,” he said. “A lot of people either hate the Biden administration, love the Biden administration, or want to see more or less out of what he’s doing. I think it’ll be a referendum on all of our political climate right now.”

He encourages students to keep an eye out for OUSC and other organizations on or off campus to get involved by registering or canvassing for candidates they believe in.

For those interested in registering to vote, the last day to register online is Oct. 24. As for obtaining an absentee ballot, the last day to request online or by mail is Nov. 4 at 5 p.m.

Other important dates can be found on the Michigan Department of State’s website.