With Election Day less than a week away, students at Arkansas Baptist College are taking their civic duty beyond the classroom, participating in an early voting walk as questions continue over federal election monitors coming to Arkansas.
Led by history professor Edmond W. Davis, students walked from campus to the nearby Sue Cowan Williams Library in Little Rock on Wednesday to cast their ballots ahead of the November 3 general election.
Davis said the goal is to give students firsthand experience with the voting process while reinforcing the importance of civic engagement.
“By this being a U.S Government class under the social sciences that we teach at Arkansas Baptist College, it was an idea that came about some time ago to get our students involved in the electoral process in real time,” Davis said.
The professor is also encouraging other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across Arkansas to participate in similar efforts to get students involved in the electoral process.
“This is arguably the most important mid term season in my lifetime so let’s get out there and do the American thing, let’s do the right thing, let’s vote,” Davis said.
The push to encourage young voters comes as the U.S. Department of Justice prepares to send federal election monitors to Pulaski and Washington counties on Election Day.
The two counties have significant Black and Hispanic populations, respectively.
The DOJ says the monitoring is routine and part of an effort the department has conducted for decades to identify potential violations of federal voting laws.
However, the Arkansas NAACP is questioning why those two counties were selected.
In a press release, the organization raised concerns that the presence of federal monitors could intimidate voters and discourage participation in the election.
Meanwhile, the Washington County Election Commission voted Monday not to allow DOJ monitors inside its polling places.
The Pulaski County Election Commission is expected to vote Thursday on the department’s request to have monitors inside polling locations.
Despite the ongoing questions surrounding federal election monitoring, Davis said he wants students to understand the benefits of voting early and avoid the long lines that can come on Election Day.
“A lot of times the people go vote and stand in line on Election Day for hours. Here you can take advantage of voting early and I wanted the students to see and get a part of that,” Davis said.
Davis hopes Wednesday’s walk will encourage more young people to make their voices heard at the ballot box, emphasizing that voting is not just something students should learn about in class, but something they should actively participate in.
Early voting in Arkansas continues through Monday, November 2, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, November 3.