For some supporters of voting this year, political candidates and voting issues are in many ways less important than generating awareness of the fundamental right to vote and the power behind it.

In an era of US political division, when fear, misinformation and allegations of voter suppression often dictate the conversation rather than politics, the simple and basic act of anonymous voting is now linked to endangering mental health.

The fairly recent proliferation of social media has brought these challenges to the forefront of modern elections. But a new group of voters, college-aged adults and their leaders, are overlooking partisan politics and focusing on civics education.

“We’re trying to help people become civically informed,” said Julia Martin, a 22-year-old political science major. “This includes our younger voters and blocks that are often not registered to vote. Getting more people registered to vote means opening the eyes of politicians – we matter too. Active democracy is the most important thing. Your vote matters and dictates how your state will go.”

The same mission appears to be in action at Aims Community College. Both schools were honored by a national organization that recognizes colleges and universities for turnout.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge was established in 2016 to empower colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan democratic student engagement.

UNC received Gold Medal status from the ALL IN Democracy Challenge for its 45.3% student turnout in the 2022 midterm elections. The campus saw nearly 80% of its students vote in 2020. UNC is tracking a student voter turnout rate of 85% this. year.

Voter turnout is generally higher in a presidential election year.

Aims received silver awards from ALL IN for student participation in 2020 and 2022. The college reported a student voter rate of 37.1% in 2022 and 69.2% in 2020.

“We’re doing everything we can to increase (the voter rate),” said Becca Herman, student program director at Aims and chair of the college’s civic engagement board.

Colorado State political science professor Kyle Saunders said the 18-29 age group traditionally votes at a lower rate than other and older groups of eligible voters. But education is an influential factor in voting among all age groups because education will connect voters to opportunities and social systems that illustrate the impact and importance of voting.

A year-old UNC organization called the Bears Vote Coalition executes the school’s voting plan and civic engagement initiatives that enable inclusion in the ALL IN Democracy Challenge. Bears Vote was also created to increase campus discourse and oversee relevant activities. Bears Vote has registered more than 50 people this semester, Dean of Student Development Colleen Sonnentag said.

“We want our students to explore their political beliefs while they’re here and exercise their rights,” Sonnentag said. “We know many of our students are voting in their first presidential election, and that can be exciting but full of unknowns.”

A Colorado student who attends school locally, at UNC or Aims, for example, can vote in their home precinct by mail, though election officials are now warning against mailing out ballots so close to Election Day because they must be received before the votes are close to be counted. .

Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes said an out-of-state student can Register to vote in Colorado if they confirm residency or undertake to live here.

Koppes added that students should verify that the money they receive is tied to where they claim residency.

All the political division and rhetoric surrounding the elections in recent years has created a legitimately difficult and stressful environment. Those at Aims and UNC deeply engaged in elections and democracy recognize the current reality and have sought to help students and their campus communities manage election tensions.

“We want to make sure people can process and work through what’s going on,” UNC’s Martin said. “We want people to feel comfortable and go through what’s going on. This election has a lot of tension about where people are on the political spectrum.”

UNC’s nonpartisan Bear Votes webpage has a section dedicated to election stress. Information includes tips and strategies, such as phone numbers for counseling services at UNC and North Range Behavioral Health in Greeley.

Other tips offered for managing election stress include limiting news and social media consumption, connecting with friends, participating in an enjoyable activity, getting involved in community service, and the chance to learn about having difficult conversations by attending the Institute for Constructive Dialogue.

Alexx Barger, a 19-year-old student at Aims in Eaton, has seen a lot of stress from peers over the election and the possibilities of what would happen with a win by former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

Barger, who uses the pronouns they/them, identifies as queer and has many friends who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

“As students, it’s hard for us to pay for things,” they said. “A lot of friends are worried about whether or not Project 2025 is something Trump supports and feel like they can’t trust the news either way.”

Casting some doubt on the power of voting and the legitimacy of US elections, Trump continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

President Joe Biden beat Trump by 7 million in the popular vote, a result Trump falsely claimed was wrong, saying the election was stolen from him. More than 60 court cases with Republican and Trump-appointed judges have found otherwise, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center’s website

The Campaign Legal Center said it has researched cases in Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and other jurisdictions. Some of these were withdrawn by Trump’s lawyers before the courts ruled, or the cases were dismissed on procedural grounds.

A 2023 poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago found that 57 percent of Republicans believed Biden was not legitimately elected.

At Aims this fall, student campus activities scheduler Jeff Thatch focused on organizing election-related events on the Greeley campus. Civic engagement is one of Thatch’s responsibilities. He serves on the 4-year-old college’s civic engagement board, which is a nonpartisan group that includes Aims faculty, staff, students and community stakeholders.

“Our main goal is to try to get students to vote and get involved in the process,” Thatch said.

Thatch set up tables this fall on campus with information for students to vote, and UNC’s Bear Vote Coalition is also using the filing to reach students. Thatch said about 50 people came to each table.

“It’s a good way to catch people,” Thatch said. “There was a good percentage of people who wanted to know if they were registered to vote and how to register to vote.”

Thatch said the college has hosted events like vote breakdown, which is a “loud version of the Blue Book,” according to Herman. She was referring to the color of the ballot information cards provided to Colorado voters.

Aims’ ballot breakdowns focused on the issues and amendments up for a vote this year rather than candidate information. This is done to avoid partisanship, Thatch said.

Ballot breakdowns are “plain language” explanations and discussions of ballot issues, including the meaning of a yes or no vote.

“It’s understanding where the money is coming from if the money is approved,” Thatch said.

Within Barger’s peer group, there are two different attitudes about voting and elections. Barger’s friends are politically active, interested in voting, and interested in what’s on a ballot and what a vote means. Barger said other students see all politicians as fools and voting as pointless.

“When I can, I try to talk to them about their thoughts on the issues and the importance of voting,” Barger said. “We are in a democratic republic, and voting matters, especially in local elections.”

Barger will vote for president for the first time this year. And while they consider voting in person for such an important milestone, Barger is also an advocate for local election education and preparation.

“Don’t discount them and do some research,” Barger said. “Ultimately, it affects most of us. State funding, educational policies. It’s a big thing and it’s important.”

Locations at Aims and UNC are among the voter services and polling centers in Weld County. For more information on county polling places, go to weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/waittimes.

Aims’ Cornerstone Building, 5401 W. 20th St. in Greeley, is available as a 24-hour ballot drop-off location, an in-person voting location, and a location to register to vote, update your registration, or obtain a ballot replacement.

In-person voting hours are: Friday, Saturday and Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.

UNC Campus Commons, 1051 22nd St. in Greeley, it is available as an in-person polling location and a site to register to vote, update your registration or obtain a replacement ballot.

Voting hours in person are: Friday, Saturday and Monday between 8:00 and 17:00 and Tuesday between 07:00 and 19:00.

A 24-hour ballot drop-off location is available at the UNC University Center, 2101 10th Ave. in Greeley. The delivery of ballots opened on October 11 and closes at 19:00 on Tuesday.