A USC guide to voting in the 2022 midterms 

With midterm elections a single day away, many USC students — from those registered to vote in Los Angeles County to those hailing from out of state — hoping to perform their civic duty, may have questions about their voting eligibility. To encourage civic engagement in the greater campus community, the Daily Trojan has compiled helpful tips and commentary to ensure a smooth voting plan on the big election day.

Where can students vote in-person or drop off their vote-by-mail ballot near campus? 

There are two stand-alone ballot drop boxes in the greater campus area — one in the USC Village beside the Hoover Street gate and another up north at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. Both of the drop boxes are in the Fryft zone and will close at 8 p.m. unless there is a line of voters.

For in-person voting, there are polls nearby at Masjid Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, the Ahmanson Senior Center, Vermont Avenue Elementary School, Hoover Recreation Center, Betty Hill Senior Citizen Center, Greater Bethel Cathedral and the Loyola Law School. You can also turn in your mail ballot at any of these locations before 8 p.m. on election night.

How can out-of-state voters cast their ballots for the Tuesday election?

For students planning to vote as absentees, rules will vary by each state on the timing of when your ballot must be cast — with many requiring voters to send in their ballots multiple weeks in advance of election night. Natasha Tieu, a junior majoring in history and economics and data science and president of VoteSC, said that her organization made a push for those students to request any ballots they needed from their states early on in the election season.

“If you are looking to vote outside your state, then you need to be really careful and read the legislation that surrounds that,” Tieu said. “One thing that we were really, really pushing was to get everyone to get their absentee ballots early, because for a lot of states, you have to get your absentee ballot in a month before the election.”

One of those absentee voters is Antonio Wu, a sophomore majoring in public policy voting from Wisconsin who mentioned being “a little nervous” about his ballot arriving home on time.

“The absentee voting was … a little inconvenient in that I definitely had to plan pretty far ahead,” Wu said. “There’s just an element of unpredictability when you mail it back whether or not it will get there in time.”

But for those out-of-state students hoping to register as a California voter, it’s not too late — at the polling center, you can fill out a provisional ballot, change your voter registration to your current USC address, and, after your information has been confirmed, your vote can still be counted.

What if I want to vote, but I missed the voter registration deadline?

In California, you can still submit same-day, conditional voter registration and cast your ballot at the polls on election day if you’ve missed the deadline — your ballot will be processed and vote counted as soon as your registration has been verified.

“It’s a great resource that we have in California that makes voting so much more accessible to so many people,” said Sara Stienecker, a sophomore majoring in political science and co-director of external affairs for VoteSC.

Why is it important to vote this Tuesday?

According to those at VoteSC like Stienecker or Tieu, or out-of-state voters like Wu, there are many advocacies and important information they believe make it essential to vote this Tuesday.

“If you’re on the fence about something and you’re not quite sure about a specific issue on the ballot, you can leave those things blank … you can vote for how much or however little you want,” Tieu said. 

“I think it’s really important to utilize the vote that so many people fought so hard for … it’s just our way to participate in this system and this democracy,” Stienecker said.

“While it may be unfair that it is a little harder for college students to vote, and it may be unfair that our voices are not as well-represented, I would say to make [voting] plans every time there is an election, do thorough research on candidates and at least put your name into the process … . It’s not always the most enthusiastic thing for us to do, but it is a privilege,” Wu said.