University students now have an easier time accessing their proof of address letters and registering to vote than ever before thanks to initiatives carried out by the Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) and the Office of Residence Life.
Recently, the CCCE and the Office of Residence Life worked together to provide University students with a proof of address letter through their MyBGSU account. A proof of address letter is required in local elections to prove an individual lives in Bowling Green and, therefore, has the right to make decisions about the community.
Paul Valdez, the associate director of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement, said it was very cumbersome in previous years to get a proof of address letter to students.
“We wanted to make it easier for students to access their proof of (address) letter without doing so much extra work and wasting paper,” he said.
Valdez said, before the proof of address letters were integrated into MyBGSU, the CCCE and Office of Residence Life would manually print off or send out individual emails to all students. Now, students have easier access to their proof of address letters, and the offices are not required to do so much extra work.
He said placing the letters in MyBGSU should prove to be very helpful to students, because, in previous years, students would lose the emails or paper copies of their proof of address letters.
Valdez went on to say why it is important for students to vote in local elections: “It is important for student to be aware of the impact local elections have on them. Also, local elections are an opportunity for students to learn about the democratic process and the way that we govern ourselves as a state, or a government or a municipality.”
He said he hopes students will vote locally because it is a way to support what they are passionate about. Votes in local elections are also influential because of the smaller voter pools and allow voters to have a louder voice in their community.
Josh Lawrie, the interim director for the Office of Residence Life, was another key player in introducing the proof of address letters to MyBGSU.
Lawrie said, “Students should be engaged in the community. Often times, students come to college and disengage.”
Lawrie said both he and Valdez wanted there to be very few obstacles for students in terms of voting. The main inspiration for integrating the letters into MyBGSU was to meet the needs of the students.
In order to vote in local elections, students must be registered to vote by Oct. 10. This can either be done through the CCCE — located in University Hall — or at the Wood County courthouse downtown. Voting can either be done on Election Day, which requires both a proof of address letter and state-issued ID in early voting sessions, or with an absentee ballot. Early voting sessions do not require a proof of address letter, only a state-issued ID.
