Her absentee ballot missing, a Kentucky college student plans to drive 1,052 miles to vote.
|
Version 0 of 1. Fiona Walsh, a senior at George Washington University, has spent the last month trying to locate her absentee ballot, which never arrived. So she’s going the extra mile. Actually, 1,052 extra miles. That’s the round-trip mileage from Washington to Ms. Walsh’s home in Walton, Ky. On Monday, Ms. Walsh plans to begin driving in the morning, sleep at her parents’ home, cast a ballot in person, then return on Tuesday. The coronavirus pandemic and new requirements in Republican-led states created voting obstacles this year for college students, a group that leans heavily Democratic. Yet youth participation appears to be on the rise. More than seven million voters under 30 have already cast ballots, including more than four million in 14 key states that could decide the presidency and control of the Senate, according to data compiled by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. In many states, the youth share of the early vote is higher than it was at the same point in 2016. Ms. Walsh’s quest for an absentee ballot began in mid September, she said, when she requested a ballot from Boone County in Kentucky. By early October, it hadn’t arrived. “The first time I called they said, ‘Give it another week,’” Ms. Walsh said, but it didn’t turn up. When Ms. Walsh called again on Oct. 16, she realized that the mailing address her local election office was using did not include her apartment number, so she corrected it and asked for a new ballot. By Oct. 26, still nothing. Ms. Walsh called again and asked the clerk’s office to confirm her address. Her apartment number was still missing. She talked to her property manager, who was holding an absentee ballot — for another resident. She said she now believes her only alternative is to borrow a car and make the long drive. Ms. Walsh said her primary goal was to help elect Amy McGrath, the Democrat trying to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a Republican who serves as Senate majority leader. “I know it will make me anxious and sad if I don’t vote against Mitch McConnell,” she said. |