By Stephanie Colmenero
Managing Editor/Web Editor/Social Media Editor

All seven Dallas County Community College District campuses, as well as satellite campuses will serve as polling locations for early voting and on election day, Nov. 6. One Brookhaven College initiative is designed to help students, staff and faculty register to vote.
Brookhaven worked with voting advocacy groups to help students, staff and faculty register and go out and vote in November.
Asmara Saleemi, political science professor and IGNITE adviser, a movement to get young women to become involved in government positions, said: “If every eligible woman and college student voted in the upcoming mid-term election, they have the power to change the political landscape. It’s that important.”
As of Sept. 6, there were more than 1.3 million registered voters in Dallas County, according to dallascountyvotes.org.
Young voters have the lowest turnout rate due to a lack of concern for topics such as property taxes, which usually impact older demographics, according to The New York Times.
Social media and technology, have given millennials the power to voice their political views across platforms that were not available 20 years ago, according to HuffPost. Millennials come up short when it’s time to head to the polls.
In 2014, 21 percent of adults between ages 18-29 made up of the eligible voting population, according to the Campus Vote Project, a group that works with higher education institutions to reduce student voting barriers. During the 2016 presidential election, fewer than half of college undergraduates voted, according to The New York Times.
Ivory Lockett, a student, said she was easily able to register to vote at Brookhaven in 2016.
Brookhaven Votes! hosted voter registration and renewal Sept. 4-6 and during the Welcome Back Party in Commons Courtyard Sept. 12.
Carrie Schweitzer, sustainability director, said she is excited with what the Jolt Initiative is bringing to Brookhaven’s Hispanic and Latino voters.
“Latino students makeup a majority of the student population. Your one action can make a difference,” Schweitzer said. According to Brookhaven’s website, 38.7 percent of the student body is Hispanic or Latino.
Jolt is a Texas-based organization that empowers Latino voters to go out and let their voice be heard.“Jolt is passionate about understanding the issues that drive our younger demographic of eligible voters to the polls,” Minh Nguyen, voter registration manager, said. “We will continue our efforts to be the voice of a new electorate and fighting for their rights.”
Voter registration in Texas ends Oct. 9 for the Nov. 6 general election. Early voting takes place Oct. 22-Nov. 2.