On Tuesday, the multipurpose room in Western’s Viking Union transformed into a temporary election center. The “voting hub” gave students the opportunity to cast their ballots in-person — 'I Voted' stickers and all — without ever having to leave campus.
A mixture of Whatcom County election workers, employees with Western’s Outreach and Continuing Education department, and student volunteers supervised the process and assisted voters. Ally Carter, a temporary OCE employee, checked students in at the entrance.
“We're pretty well set up,” Carter said. “We have a table over there for same day registration … If they're already registered, they can go straight to printing their ballot.”
A group of Western students, Hanuri Kim, True Ward and Lulu McBride, came to the hub to vote together. It was their first time voting, and the option to print their ballots onsite came in handy.
“True and I are roommates, and we've had to change our address a couple times, so it was like, let's just make sure and go in person,” Kim said. “Then we met Lulu at a Halloween party, and we were like, ‘Oh my god, are you registered [to vote]?’”
McBride moved to Bellingham from the Portland, Oreg. area. After having some doubts over whether she’d be able to vote in this election, she found that the Washington registration process was breezy.
“I didn't know you could register on election day,” McBride said. “They just registered me, and it took, what, 10 minutes or something?”
Students filled out their ballots inside Western Washington University’s satellite election center on November 5, 2024 in Bellingham, Wash. Voters who had not received their ballots were able to print out replacements onsite. // Photo by Oren Roberts
Once their ballots were printed, voters filled them out behind green privacy screens. From there, they had a choice of three ‘I Voted’ sticker designs: traditional red-white-and-blue, plain black text on a white background, or a wavy green, blue and orange.
“We wanted a sticker,” Ward said. “We wanted to get the full immersive experience.”
Elsewhere on campus, volunteers with the League of Women Voters carried clipboards, checking in with students about whether they had already voted.
Susan Wright, an election volunteer with LWV, said that the League has kept a consistent presence on Western’s campus throughout the fall quarter, helping students get registered and offering resources through the voting process.
“The last two days of the election are always busiest,” Wright said. “They’re doing a great job [at the satellite election hub]. Thank heavens they’re over there.”
As Wright spoke, a bald eagle flew overhead, its wings spread wide against the clear blue sky.
“That is propitious. That’s incredible,” Wright said. “I’ve never seen an eagle over Red Square.”
Stranger things have surely happened — but during a tense election cycle, good omens are always welcome.
Oren Roberts (they/them) is the opinions editor for The Front this fall. Previously, they wrote for The Front as a City News reporter. They are a senior studying news/editorial journalism. When not writing or editing, they enjoy brewing kombucha, taking long walks and photographing the beauty of Bellingham. You can reach them at westernfront.opeditor@gmail.com
