The election this year seems to be one day on everyone’s mind in the St. Lawrence community. In response to the added pressure of voting in an already hectic semester, the Thelomathesian Society has made efforts to reduce this stress.

Members of the Thelomathesian Society at St. Lawrence have recognized how this school year has been quite a drastic change for students. As if a pandemic was not enough, now students and faculty have the election to worry about. To address this, Thelomathesian has made a request to faculty and staff to consider cancelling or hosting asynchronous classes for Election Day. 

In an email to faculty members, the executive board of Thelomathesian stated, “This is to allow students who are voting in Canton to go to the polls and alleviate any stress students may be feeling on election day.” 

Some professors have a couple reasons for giving students the time during class to vote. Assistant Professor of English, Pigi Vlagopoulos, urges students to use the time to either vote in person or send in their absentee ballot if they have not already. 

Allowing students to have class time to vote is one way in which the St. Lawrence community can combat voter suppression. Voting suppression has been part of the United States since it was created, from the Civil War to the ridding of voting rights in 1965. 

Voter suppression is still apparent today as well, according to ABC News. President Donald Trump has publicly criticized mail in voting, which can be seen as a form of voter suppression, according to Vlagopoulos. 

Trump said in a thread of tweets “There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.” He also stated that this election would be rigged. Since mail-in ballots are being discredited by Trump, ABC News stated that this is one way in which voters are deterred from casting their ballot. 

Other ways that voters have been suppressed this election include restrictions on mail in ballots placed in certain states. “Voter suppression is a major threat, from Governor Greg Abbott restricting the number of drop boxes in Texas to Pennsylvania Republicans’ efforts to roll back the state’s mail-in ballot extension,” said Vlagopoulos. “These realities suggest that we need to do what we can to ensure our students are able to vote. “

Vlagopoulos hopes that by giving students class time to vote, the voter turnout for younger people will increase from previous years. “Only 56% of voting-age Americans cast ballots in the 2016 election, trailing far behind that of other developed democracies around the world, and only 39% of people ages 18 to 24 voted. Think of how different our country would be right now if young people had voted in greater numbers in 2016.” 

Another idea that has been brought into question is whether or not the cancellation of classes on the day of the election should be the norm. According to Vlagopoulos,  “I think Election Day should be on a weekend or it should be a federal holiday, as it is in many other democracies. Democracy only works when the people participate and we should make it easier for everyone to vote.”

It is important to Vlagopoulos for students to understand that this is a stressful time and it is important to reach out to surrounding resources. “We all need time and space to support each other and to reach out to friends and family in solidarity.  I hope my students know that I’ll be with them in spirit and will be available if they want to reflect on the day as it unfolds.”

Vlagopoulos exclaims “Let’s rise up and be heard!”