There are many voters who reside in Bowling Green as students of the University. In a setting like this, issues can arise regarding the attitudes of longtime residents, the need of students to be informed on upcoming issues and the influence of young people on the politics of the town. Councilman Daniel Gordon commented on the power students have to bring solutions to the problems of Bowling Green.

At a recent Undergraduate Student Government meeting, you mentioned that student voting is frowned upon by some local residents. Can you elaborate on these attitudes against student voting?

There are people in town — it’s mostly Republicans but one or two Democrats that I’ve heard from too — who think that because students aren’t informed about the issues here then they don’t want to see them voting. So I mentioned that as motivation for students to turn out because, while there is certainly work to do to bring students and current residents closer together, the fact is that students have issues that need to be resolved in Bowling Green too. And they have just as much right to vote as anybody else, and as a young person I want to see students voting. Hopefully that means that students and current residents can come together to work collaboratively on those very issues.

Can you explain why you think it is important for students to exercise their right to vote?

I’ll give you a story because this is something that I think is the most illuminating example I can give. A few years back, the city council passed legislation to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in housing, employment and education. There were some citizens in town who weren’t happy about this so they tried to repeal that legislation at the ballot box, and the only reason they failed is because enough BGSU students came out and said no to discrimination.

What are some resources students can use to Where they have to go to vote and where they can learn more about issues on this year’s ballot?

Two websites… League of Women Voters of BG and the Wood County Board of Elections. They have everything that is going to appear on your ballot, and they have information about where you vote and when you vote. If you have any questions you can call them or email them.

Does being a college town affect the political climate of Bowling Green? What would you say to students who are hesitant to vote on local issues?

Absolutely, I think BGSU and its students have pushed Bowling Green to do better over time in a number of areas. There are high stakes for BG this year because city council is either going to continue swinging in a more progressive direction or it’s going to go in a more regressive direction. So the contrast between the candidates this year hasn’t been this clear in some time. I encourage folks, regardless of where they stand on the issues, regardless of their party affiliation or ideology is, to do their research, to figure out who most closely aligns with their values and then go out to vote for them and encourage their friends to vote for them as well.