Student Organization’s Rallying Generation Z to Participate in Upcoming Election
By Abby Chapman
Reporting Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – Yellow papers lined select tables on speedway as the University Democrats and Hook the Vote Agency tabled throughout the voter registration period marking Oct. 7 as the last day.
Students of the University of Texas registered to vote to participate in the 2024 Presidential election. Hook the Vote Agency, a nonpartisan group on campus, played a massive role in getting students to register to vote.
HTA, which is part of the student government, hopes to help students become engaged in civil duties. One of the goals of HTA is to educate generation Z on what is on the ballot.
“And also more about how to accurately vote because we can register people to vote, but most of the time people get confused. Like, how do I get to a voting poll? How long are the waits? A lot of people, especially among college students, have a hard time registering since they don’t know, like, what county am I part of?” said Kayla Manteca, Co-director of Hook the Vote Agency.
Voter registration in Travis County officially ended Oct. 7. The University Democrats and HTA worked until the final day to register as many young voters as possible.
“We just had a big event with Bernie Sanders, AOC, Greg Casar, Beto O’Rourke and that got massive turnout. We had almost 1100 people show up. So, that gets people to know about this election,” Communication Director for the University Democrats Jose Perez-Cabaracas said.
A voting mural painted on Guadalupe Street in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 2, 2024. (Abby Chapman/Reporting Texas TV)
The organizations have worked tirelessly to get students registered to vote, but long lines and loads of paperwork have caused barriers.
Haley Splawn, a UT Student, said laziness even plays a factor but said this election is no more important than previous elections.
“I think most of us just see videos on TikTok and see stuff online, and we tend to be really emotional about things, but also don’t really know what we’re talking about so it’s kind of important but not really more important than any other election,” Splawn said.
HTA collaborates with other organizations on social media, like Instagram and Tikok, to get students more engaged.
“People are more likely to get involved if they have some type of social connection,” Manteca said.
Manteca emphasized the importance of being civically engaged, whether students are voting for former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.
“For Gen Z specifically, it’s really important that they get there and form their own opinions, their own decisions, and actually look at news articles, look at the propers forms of information instead of just going on TikTok,” Manteca said.
Early voting in Travis County starts Oct. 21 and the general election takes place on Tuesday Nov. 5. The deadline to apply for mail in ballots is Oct. 25.