The 2012 presidential election is fast approaching, but for a large number of Campbellsville University students, going home to vote is not an option.
However, for students who want to vote, there are solutions.

Absentee voting is one option. CU students can contact their hometown county clerk’s office and request an absentee voting application. Once the application is completed, the student is sent an absentee ballot.

“These things have to be done quickly, though, because you are sending them through the mail and it will take time,” said Rhonda Taylor, deputy clerk in elections and voter registration in Taylor County. “I can’t tell you how many students wait until the last minute and then are unable to vote.”

The other option is registering to vote in Taylor County.

“If you’re living here you really need to register to vote here,” Taylor said.

Yesterday was the cutoff date for registering to vote in Taylor County. Students can go to the Taylor County clerk’s office to register, or they can go online and register at www.sos.ky.gov.

“It is extremely important [to vote],” said Taylor, “especially with this being a presidential election year. You never know when our right to vote will be taken away.”

CU Student Government Association president Kelsey Best has similar sentiments.

“I believe that it is vitally important for college students to vote,” she said. “College students make up 24 percent of the voting population in the United States. Voting gives college students the chance for their voice to be heard, and more importantly, making the decision to vote determines the workings of our daily lives in the future.”

Election day is Nov. 6 and most CU students will vote at the Community Center on Old Hodgenville Road, next to Living Grace Church. If there are any further questions about voter registration, absentee voting or voting locations, contact Rhonda Taylor at 270-849-3765, or the county clerk’s office at 270-465-6677.