Out-of-state students navigate the vote-by-mail process

Two years ago, Ruhee Nemawarkar ’26 couldn’t vote in her home state of Texas while she was at Stanford. Now she tries to help out-of-state students navigate the challenges of voting and requesting an absentee ballot.

At the time, she had requested her absentee ballot, but because it took so long to request and receive her absentee ballot, she ultimately was unable to cast her vote in the midterm elections.

Students in general to have the ability to register to vote in their hometown or where they attend college, although requirements vary by state. All fifty states plus Washington DC offer absentee or mail-in ballots, but the ease of these processes varies by state. Many voters are opposed problems with proof of residency, voter identification and use of absentee ballots.

In light of these types of challenges, StanfordVotes, a nonpartisan student organization that helps students vote, hosted a Get Out the Vote event Tuesday at White Plaza. The purpose was to answer student questions about absentee ballots and other aspects of the voting process.

“I just don’t think that students who are not in Texas should not have their voices heard just because they are currently out of state, which is part of the reason why I was inspired to do this event,” Nemawarkar said , who helped organize the event. The junior, who also serves as outreach manager for the Sexual Health Peer Resource Center (SHPRC), said the political debate over reproductive rights motivated her to help more students through the voting process.

“This election is so important, and I know it can feel like a bubble at Stanford. So I think it’s important to be reminded first and foremost that you need to vote,” she added. “I know the absentee voting process can become very complicated, especially in states that don’t want out-of-state voters to vote.”

Samin Bhan ’28 was a student who received help from the event. Bhan is from North Carolina and said requesting an absentee ballot took him five minutes after discussing the process with the StanfordVotes tables.

“There’s so much information online, so it’s really helpful to have someone who can give it to you in a streamlined way,” Bhan said. “I think if I had just Googled, I would have taken a lot more time and been unsure about how to do things.”

Some students registered to vote before coming to Stanford but are requesting mail-in ballots for the first time. Alexis Li ’28 originally registered to vote when she was in high school and living in Arizona, but has experienced problems receiving her ballot this election cycle. She said she was told her ballot had been sent to her home address, but her family still hasn’t received it and she’s having a hard time changing her address.

New Jersey native Amy Ciu ’28 said the process for requesting an absentee ballot was made efficient by her state’s well-organized resources. She requested her absentee ballot when she turned 18 earlier this year and cast her ballot early.

Although receiving her ballot went smoothly, Ciu said she was initially nervous about returning it.

“Before I came to campus, I wasn’t sure how I was going to send it back,” she said. “but on campus there are so many USPS boxes and Election Day signs that say, ‘Oh, just drop off your mail or ballot at Tressider or another USPS mailbox.’”

Nearly half of Stanford’s student population greets from US states other than California. Even among California residents, many cannot travel to their hometowns to vote in person. Nemawarkar emphasized the importance of these students’ impact on their hometown, despite currently being at Stanford.

“I just think it’s really important that Stanford students remember that, outside of Stanford, they are part of their community back home,” Nemawarkar said. “It’s really important that even though they’re here in California now, their voices are represented in their hometown.”