Colorado State University and City of Fort Collins representatives visited the Lory Student Center Sept. 25 to speak with interested students and faculty about getting involved in the electoral process ahead of November’s national presidential election.

The seminar, Civics and Voting 101, was presented by the Straayer Center for Public Service Leadership in conjunction with representatives of the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County. Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Tina Harris spoke to attendees about how to vote, the importance of voting and getting politically involved, both nationally and locally.

“This past year, I have really been focused on community outreach and talking about the life of the ballot and how you can get involved,” Harris said. “It is very important.”

Joining Harris was Fort Collins City Clerk Delynn Coldiron. Coldiron’s speech emphasized local shifts in civics, disclosed issues that are on the upcoming ballot and suggested ways to get involved in city and county affairs.

“This year, we have a really unique opportunity — because it’s a presidential election — to get a lot of students involved and kind of build on that momentum that we’re seeing.” –Ava Wilkins, ASCSU director of Governmental Affairs

Coldiron announced that next year’s local elections will be the first to implement ranked choice voting instead of plurality voting. This comes with an effort to educate voters on ranked choice voting and how it will change future elections.

“We’re implementing something called ranked choice voting, which will be brand new for all of us,” Coldiron said. “And so we’re anxious to start educating people about ranked choice voting and getting that training in place.”

ASCSU Director of Governmental Affairs Ava Wilkins also spoke at the seminar. Wilkins drew attention to the power local governments have over citizens versus national governments and encouraged students to get their voices heard at all levels of government.

“This year, we have a really unique opportunity — because it’s a presidential election — to get a lot of students involved and kind of build on that momentum that we’re seeing,” Wilkins said. “Something I’m really trying to encourage (in) students is to really connect at the city and the state level.”

Among CSU students and statewide, youth voting is on the rise. Youth voter turnout in Colorado reached 33% in the 2022 midterm elections, surpassing the 2014 midterms’ 27.6% but falling short to 2018’s 40.8%.

ASCSU is also making an effort to get CSU students to register to vote. As part of the rivalry with the University of Colorado Boulder, ASCSU and the CU Student Government engaged in a competition to engage students by getting them to register. ASCSU registered 209 new student voters, falling short of CUSG by about 140.

Fort Collins and Larimer County offer several ways for community members to engage in local elections. One of these opportunities is a new process called the civic assembly. The civic assembly was approved by city council to discuss topical affairs. This is one effort to get community members to engage with local politics, which the speakers contend are more impactful than those on the national stage.

“So much of our attention and focus is on national elections,” said Sam Houghteling, Straayer Center program manager. “My experience has always been that the most impactful places for students to engage are at the state and local level. You have the biggest ability to change (and) to impact your communities.”

County clerks will send out election ballots to domestic voters starting Oct. 11. Election day is Nov. 5.

Reach Robert Sides at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.