Student Voting Rights – An Interview with ACLU

Credit: ACLU Pennsylvania

Aliyah Williams

Editor-in-Chief

This year’s presidential election has gained a lot of media attention and scrutiny. Set to officially occur on Nov. 5, it is important for ESU students to know their voting rights and the importance of their vote. 

The Stroud Courier was able to interview Marian Schneider, a Senior Policy Counsel for Voting Rights at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). According to their official website, the organization is a nonprofit “dedicated to defending and protecting our individual rights and personal freedoms.” 

Schneider has been with the organization since 2021, after an extensive background in Pennsylvania government. She has expertise in elections and voting rights policies, and has litigated several high-impact voting rights cases in Pennsylvania.

Schneider spoke with the Courier about the importance of knowing your voting rights.

“Everybody has the right to unimpeded access to a polling location,” said Schnieder. “There should not be anyone outside impeding voters or trying to get them to not vote.” 

 Students living at East Stroudsburg University should have access to local polls in order to vote. According to Schneider, “students in Pennsylvania can vote on their campus under Pennsylvania law.”

When asked what she would like students to take away from her organization, Schneider wanted to stress the importance of voting.
“Voting is very important and every vote counts,” she said. “It’s never true when people say ‘My vote doesn’t matter.’ It absolutely does! In Luzerne county, which is very close to Monroe, they had a state race that was divided by three votes, so there are close races and every vote does count!” 

There are, however, also barriers to students voting that can affect their decisions or want to participate, namely misinformation. 

“I think that not having access to correct information about voting and not knowing the voting process is a big barrier to voting for students,” said Schneider. “The lack of information can be solved by going to a valid website.”

The organization for which Schneider works at, the ACLU, has a website dedicated to providing accurate, safe information for students to visit.
As well as this, they offer a direct hotline for students and other individuals to call if they have any problems or challenges on election day. 

The hotline, 1866-OUR-VOTE, is a reliable and easy resource for students to access should they need any assistance. 

“I encourage students to visit the ALCU website,” said Schneider. “We have a lot of information there, and we really want our message to reach the student population of Pennsylvania.”

The ACLU also covers the issues of: criminal justice reform, racial justice, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, reproductive freedom, first amendment rights, student and youth rights, and privacy and security. 

For more information about the organization, please visit their website.