RIT students who vote by mail may face restrictions on voting in the future. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March requiring states to send a list of approved mail-in voters to the United States Postal Service (USPS) through an online portal at least 60 days before an election. This would give voters less time to request ballots, as this deadline is significantly earlier than deadlines in most states. The USPS would not deliver mail-in ballots to those who are not on the approved list. While Trump aimed to have these restrictions in place in time for the 2026 midterm elections, the Supreme Court has blocked their implementation for the time being.
Student Opinions
Like most universities, RIT has a considerable population of out-of-state students. Out-of-state students who wish to vote have the option to vote by mail, travel back to their home state or register to vote in Henrietta. For those who care to vote in their own state’s elections, voting by mail may be the only realistic option. RIT students seemingly have an opinion on the executive order, whether they vote by mail or not.
“I think it was made sort of clear that it was an attempt to restrict certain groups of people from voting,” said Jackson Kirkebye, a first year Computer Engineering student.
Another student, third year Computational Mathematics major Hayden Abramson, shared similar thoughts.
“I think this is a classic strategy to try and reduce votes,” he said. “Mail-in voting is one of the best ways, I think, to give more voting power to the people, and those trying to take it away are absolutely doing it just to consolidate power.”
Abramson is from Nevada and votes by mail every election season. He mentioned that he is “very passionate” about voting in his state and local elections.
In-state students also expressed opinions. Eris Henderson, a first year Cybersecurity student from Syracuse, said that she would prefer to vote bythrough the mail once she is old enough to vote.
ROAR the Vote
ROAR the Vote (RTV) is RIT’s voter engagement program run by the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE).
According to Bill St. Jean, Associate Director of CLCE, many RIT students utilize mail-in ballots. “We know that a good number of students from who we’ve talked to do participate in mail-in or absentee voting. A lot of students will share that they feel really connected to their home communities,” he said.
St. Jean explained that RTV is currently monitoring the status of mail-in voting so that they can be prepared to best support students. For now, he encourages students to check if they are registered, make a plan to vote and act early.
