IS THE RIGHT TO VOTE EXPEDITIOUSLY A PART OF CIVIC LITERACY

Harry Targ

                                        League of Women Voters  https://lwvphilly.org/

Some time ago, the faculty and administration at Purdue University discussed whether there should be a “civic literacy” requirement for every student pursuing a bachelors’ degree. There were debates in the University Senate and elsewhere about   what “civic literacy” meant, whether it was true that students were not receiving such materials in their core requirements, and if the policy recommended by the Purdue Administration and Board of Trustees was adopted would the requirement be successful.

https://heartlandradical.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-contradictions-facing-21st-century.html

Ultimately the civic literacy requirement was instituted and Purdue educators moved on to reflect on other issues. However, a recent article in the Purdue Exponent, the student newspaper, suggested that Purdue University was not able to negotiate with county officials the possibility of Purdue students voting at locations on campus in the November election. The article noted that students were able to vote at polling stations on the Purdue campus in 2020, but alas will not be able to do so this November.

https://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/politics/purdue-voting-vote-president-campus-machine-mackey/article_abfe3c62-707d-11ef-9889-1faa7d63d5f4.html

One would assume that voting for our national, state, and local political leaders would be at the top of the list of criteria for “civic literacy.” And given problems of growing student enrollments, transportation, and other issues, one would assume that the university, from the standpoint of democratic participation, would prioritize procedures to maximize voter turnout. Implicit in the newspaper story is the message that just the opposite is true.

The Exponent story quoted a member of the League of Women Voters who called the lack of transparency around there being no voting location at Purdue “voter suppression and intimidation.”