Whitman Votes will hold their first event of the semester, “Becoming a Voting Rights Activist,” this Thursday, Oct. 8, from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. over Zoom.

The club is Whitman’s chapter of the national, student-led and nonpartisan organization, Every Vote Counts, which promotes voter turnout and expanding voting access. Whitman Votes was founded in 2018 by President Lucy Montgomery, a senior politics major from Seattle, Washington. 

Thursday’s event will focus on voter registration and mail-in voting during COVID-19.

“Someone will share their screen and go through the steps necessary to register for that option,” Montgomery said. “We’ll walk participants through changing their registration address if they’re currently registered in Walla Walla but are not located there this fall.”

Montgomery says they will “discuss potential problems we’re likely to encounter this election and voting misinformation campaigns.”

Kaitlyn Patia, an assistant professor of Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse and Whitman Votes’ faculty adviser, will discuss the history of voting rights advocacy and answer any questions the audience provides.

The hosts will record the event and send it out via Whitman Today. Montgomery hopes ASWC, which recently formally recognized Whitman Votes and approved funding, will circulate the recording as well.