Paws to the Polls is making it possible for students to learn about the voting process during the 2nd Annual Voter Awareness Week.
Paws to the Polls got its start back in 2020 with a group of students and help from Suzanne Walker-Pacheco, professor of Anthropology at Missouri State University. She saw low voter turnout in local elections and wanted to raise awareness of the importance of voting.
“People don't realize that it's local elections that...can affect their day to day lives as much or more than the big federal elections,” said Walker-Pacheco.
She is on a mission to make sure students can vote. She said she's seen people who thought they were registered to vote only to find out they made a mistake on a form and couldn’t cast a ballot. She said a lot of people don’t think their vote matters, but it does.
“What we're trying to do is point out how important local elections are and how close some elections are,” said Walker-Pacheco. “A lot of elections have been won or lost by a single vote."
The voting fair hosted by Paws to the Polls will take place on Wednesday, October 18, on the West Lawn of the MSU campus between McDonald Arena and Plaster Stadium from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students will have the chance to ask questions to local elected officials about the election process.
Walker-Pacheco told KSMU about 14 or 15 elected officials from Springfield City Council, The Springfield Public School Board of Education and county government, including Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller will be at the event.
