On Friday, Oct. 7, the Student Union held an event in Fellows Garden to register members of the Brandeis community to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Local officials, including Mayor McCarthy, Councilor Bradley-MacArthur, Councilor Katz and Councilor Paz, appeared at the event and two Waltham’s League of Women Voters members attended as well. The goal of the event was to serve as a conduit to get “as many people registered [to vote] as possible,” according to Student Union President Peyton Gillespie ’25.

The Student Union, VoteDeis, Brandeis Democrats, Brandeis Students Demand Action and ENACT (The Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation) were running booths at the event, and several of these clubs’ representatives spoke with The Hoot. 

Members of VoteDeis mentioned that they wanted to encourage “engagement with the political process.” They added that registering to vote is “insanely easy” and only takes two minutes if you go to vote.org. Nate Lapointe ’24, Political Director of the Brandeis Democrats, added that Brandeis students should “make their voice heard.” Several club representatives also mentioned how important it is to vote in the upcoming midterm elections: “Voting is most important now,” said Allison Weiner ’25 of Brandeis Students Demand Action.

Each group was set up in a blue booth in Fellows Garden, and each booth had a poster with a QR code that starts the voting registration process. Brandeis Students Demand Action had a table with sticky notes where students wrote about why they registered to vote. 

It’s easy to register, but the deadline to do so may be fast approaching: “States have different deadlines,” added Brandeis Democrats Vice President Adah Anderson ’24. Members of VoteDeis added that voting is one of the best ways to be civically engaged, and encourage all Brandeis Community members to register if they’re able for the imminent elections.