A Northwestern primer for the 2022 midterm elections

IS… TWO… AN… EVEN… OR… ODD… NUMBER… [smartphone typing sfx]

EVEN! IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR!

[Stars and Stripes Forever starts]

THAT’S RIGHT, WILDCATS, IT’S ONCE AGAIN ELECTION SEASON. AT TIME OF BROADCAST, THERE ARE ONLY THIRTY-TWO DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY, HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH. A HUGE NUMBER OF SEATS AT THE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LEVELS WILL BE UP FOR GRABS, SO NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT’S GOING TO BE A BIG ONE.  TO HELP UNPACK AND PREPARE YOU FOR THE BIG DAY, HERE IS YOUR TOP-TO-BOTTOM PRIMER FOR THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS.

[Music fades into Pleasant Porridge by Kevin MacLeod]

FIRST THINGS FIRST: REGISTERING TO VOTE. IF YOU’RE A FRESHMAN OR HAVEN’T VOTED BEFORE, YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW WHERE TO START. IF THAT’S THE CASE, THERE’S A GROUP ON CAMPUS READY TO HELP YOU THROUGH REGISTRATION FROM START TO FINISH.

[Maddie Brown, NU Votes fellow] Northwestern has one of the highest rates of voter registration in the country, and we like to keep it that way.

THIS IS WEINBERG SENIOR MADDIE BROWN, A FELLOW IN NU VOTES, A VOTER REGISTRATION AND ENGAGEMENT GROUP IN THE CENTER FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. SHE SAID THE GROUP HIT THE GROUND RUNNING ON PREPARING STUDENTS TO VOTE AS SOON AS THE SCHOOL YEAR STARTED.

[MB] We just finished our, sort of, crazy three weeks of in-person voter registration and absentee ballot request stations. We were at dining halls, we were in Norris, we were at Wildcat Welcome. And we amassed, just, hundreds and hundreds of absentee ballot requests and first-time registration from a lot of freshmen at Wildcat Welcome and all of that stuff.

NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS CAN REGISTER TO VOTE IN EITHER ILLINOIS OR IN THEIR HOME STATE. ILLINOIS HAS SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION, WHICH REQUIRES TWO FORMS OF ID, ONE OF WHICH HAS TO SHOW YOU’VE LIVED HERE AT LEAST THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY. 

BROWN SAID STUDENTS VOTING OUTSIDE OF ILLINOIS SHOULD CHECK THEIR REGISTRATION AND REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT AS SOON AS THEY CAN, SINCE EACH STATE SETS ITS OWN VOTING LAWS AND DEADLINES.

[MB] If you’re not registered, and you can register to vote online, if your state allows that, do it now. Because you only have two weeks left probably, at the most, because the election is so soon. And if you’re going to vote by mail, do that now, because you need time to get the ballot, and then postmark it, and all of the stuff that goes with voting by mail.

SHE ADDED THAT NU VOTES IS HAPPY TO HELP ANYONE NAVIGATE THEIR STATE’S VOTING LAWS, NO MATTER HOW CONFUSING OR RESTRICTIVE.

[MB] We’re really set up to handle anything, any, any election questions, any requests. And we’ve seen it all, we really have seen it all, and we’re prepared to tackle any state and any of the restrictions.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE “HOW” OF VOTING DOWN, IT’S TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE “WHO”, MEANING WHO WILL YOU BE VOTING FOR?

LET’S START WITH A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW: BECAUSE IT’S A MIDTERM ELECTION, THE PRESIDENT WON’T BE ON THE BALLOT, BUT THIRTY-FOUR SENATE SEATS AND THE ENTIRE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WILL BE. ON TOP OF THAT,   THIRTY-SIX STATES ARE HOLDING ELECTIONS FOR GOVERNOR, WITH MAJOR TOSS-UPS IN OREGON, ARIZONA, NEVADA AND WISCONSIN.

IN ILLINOIS, THE MARQUEE RACE IS ALSO FOR GOVERNOR, AS INCUMBENT DEMOCRAT J.B. PRITZKER RUNS FOR A SECOND TERM AGAINST REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR DARREN BAILEY. DESPITE THE MEDIA ATTENTION AND HIGH NUMBER OF ADS ON THE AIRWAVES, POLLS SHOW PRITZKER HOLDING A SOLID LEAD HEADING INTO THE FINAL MONTH OF THE CAMPAIGN.

FURTHER DOWN BALLOT, REPUBLICANS ARE MAKING A PLAY FOR THE ILLINOIS STATE SUPREME COURT, GOING AFTER TWO OPEN SEATS IN DISTRICTS WHICH INCLUDE THE COLLAR COUNTIES THAT NEIGHBOR COOK COUNTY. WINNING BOTH WOULD GIVE REPUBLICANS A FOUR-THREE MAJORITY, AND WOULD LIKELY HAVE HUGE RAMIFICATIONS ON ISSUES LIKE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, GUN CONTROL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM.

THERE ARE ALSO TWO MAJOR REFERENDUMS THAT WILL APPEAR ON THE EVANSTON BALLOT. ONE IS A STATEWIDE VOTE ON A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, WHICH WOULD ADD THE RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING INTO THE ILLINOIS BILL OF RIGHTS. THE OTHER IS JUST IN EVANSTON, WHERE RESIDENTS WILL VOTE ON WHETHER TO ADOPT A RANKED-CHOICE VOTING SYSTEM IN CITY ELECTIONS FOR MAYOR, CITY CLERK AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS STARTING IN 2025.

TO SEE WHAT STUDENT ORGANIZERS ARE DOING AHEAD OF THE ELECTION, WNUR NEWS REACHED OUT TO BOTH THE COLLEGE DEMOCRATS AND THE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS. THE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS DID NOT RESPOND TO INTERVIEW REQUESTS.

MEDILL SENIOR BEN CHASEN IS THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS FOR THE COLLEGE DEMOCRATS. HE SAID THE ORGANIZATION SEES PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AS THEIR TOP ISSUE FOLLOWING THE RULING IN DOBBS V. JACKSON IN JUNE.

[Ben Chasen, Director of Public Relations for Northwestern College Democrats] Roe v. Wade was a national decision that applied to everywhere, and now that it is no longer standing, there are a hell of a lot of scary candidates running in the state of Illinois. There’s not that much standing between a Republican majority in some of the legislative chambers. And so, I think we’re focused on working with people like Laura Fine and [Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz], just about figuring out what we can do at the state level.

CHASEN SAID THE ORG IS ALSO FOCUSED ON EDUCATING ITS OWN MEMBERS, ESPECIALLY NEWLY-ARRIVING FRESHMEN. HE SAID THE COLLEGE DEMS WILL HOLD A PUBLIC EVENT SOON TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE LOCAL POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE MAYOR OF EVANSTON.

[BC] We’re having a crash course on Illinois politics and Evanston politics October 18th, with Daniel Biss. He’s agreed to come in and talk a little bit about Evanston politics, about his experience with Illinois politics. Because there was a lot of interest when we were talking, like our initial meeting this year with members, and they said ‘That’s great, we want to get involved, and we want to knock doors, we want to make phone calls, write letters, all the good stuff, and we’re still gonna do all of that. But we’d like to know, y’know, where do things stand?’

WITH THE  “WHO” TAKEN CARE OF, ALL THAT’S LEFT IS THE “WHEN” AND “WHERE.” BROWN SAID THAT AS ELECTION DAY APPROACHES, NU VOTES WILL FOCUS ON HELPING STUDENTS MAKE AND CARRY OUT THEIR PLAN FOR VOTING.

[MB] We’ll be shifting to the sort of get out the vote phase of, have you voted,  how are you voting, if you’re voting in-person, what time and what day are you going to walk to the Civic Center, if you’re voting early for example. And then on Election Day, last chance! Are you going, when are you going to the Civic Center, how can we get you there?

CHASEN SAID THAT NO MATTER WHICH PARTY STUDENTS VOTE FOR, THEY SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THEIR VOTE DOES MATTER. ESPECIALLY IN DOWN BALLOT RACES, WHICH CAN HAVE JUST AS LARGE OF AN IMPACT AS FEDERAL RACES AT THE TOP.

[BC] If you live in California, or you live in New York, if you live in some of these solid blue or red states like many people at Northwestern do, there’s like, this conception that your vote might not matter, even in Illinois. But there are things on the ballot, up and down, whether they’re amendments, whether they’re local races, there’s a way to be involved and to care, and to make an impact with your vote.

WATCHING THE POLLS, THIS IS ALEX HARRISON, WNUR NEWS.