College students around the country find themselves unable to return to their hometowns to vote during academic hours on a Tuesday during one of the busiest times in the school year. However, these students’ votes can have a significant impact on the election results. While Hamline students can register to vote in Minnesota using their student ID, some out-of-state students still opt to vote in their home state. First year Tessa Meyers submitted an absentee ballot in her home state Michigan, a swing state for the 2024 presidential election.

“I decided to vote by mail because I live in a swing state, so I figured my vote would have more influence at home,” Meyers said.

The decision to vote by mail can also be based on the impacts of local elections as well. Students going to school in-state can vote by mail as well if they are not able to make it back to their hometown on Election Day or for early voting. Minnesota resident sophomore Stephanie Bluhm decided to submit an absentee ballot in her hometown because of concerns about local school board elections.

“I have deep respect for all of my teachers and all of the students that I’ve grown up with my community, and I felt like it would be more helpful if I could vote for their school board, for a system that I went through for thirteen years,” Bluhm said.

Absentee voting also provides students with the opportunity to take their time filling out their ballot, which can be more appealing for students. They can fill out the ballot in the comfort of their room as opposed to a potentially more stressful polling location.

“I liked being able to take my time and make sure I was thorough with my choices,” sophomore Semini McLaurin said.

However, the planning that voting by mail requires can limit students’ ability to submit an absentee ballot. Voting by mail laws differ by state with varying degrees of restrictiveness. Some states require ballots be received by the auditor’s office by Election Day while in other states the ballot simply needs to be postmarked by Election Day.

Often those who want to submit an absentee ballot must request it a few weeks before Election Day. Bluhm requested her absentee ballot in September, over a month before the election. It is encouraged for students to take note of the deadlines to avoid being unable to submit an absentee ballot.

“I do think that a lot of times especially people in our generation forget that that is an option and by the time they remember it, it is too late to order an absentee ballot so they are forced to vote in person or not vote at all,” Bluhm said.

For students who are able to request and submit a ballot in time, not all fears surrounding their ballot being counted are gone. Meyers expressed concerns over her ballot being received in time for it to be counted despite meeting all the proper deadlines.

“My biggest fear with voting by mail is that my ballot will get lost in the mail or will not arrive in time,” Meyers said.

Stories of mail-in voting mishaps, with videos of burning ballot boxes and stories of ballots getting lost in the mail prevalent across the internet, shake some voters’ faith. To ease these fears, those voting by mail can track their ballots to ensure they are received. Bluhm believes voters cannot let these extreme examples of election manipulation hinder their faith in the credibility of the election and the safety of their absentee ballot.

“The super extreme examples, like we saw the pictures of the ballot box burning, that’s not right, that’s messed up, that’s something that as a country we need to shame. But that’s a one in a million example and truthfully doesn’t happen as frequently as we might think, and truthfully we all need to take a deep breath and trust that the people who are doing this know what they are doing,” Bluhm said.

Despite unrest surrounding voting by mail, absentee ballots can increase the impact of students on the elections. Being able to participate in their hometown’s elections when at school can be empowering for students.

“I was really grateful for the opportunity to submit an absentee ballot because it meant that I could still participate in the election, despite being out of state,” Meyers said.