With Election Day coming up on Nov. 5, Constitution Week began with a nonpartisan panel as the first event of the “College Conservatives” special interest group, led by Coordinator of Student Engagement Clifton Puckett.
Cartersville City Councilman Cary Roth; Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commissioner and GHC Board of Trustees member Lance Barry; Americans for Prosperity Grassroots Engagement Director and Bartow GOP Executive Board member Jeff Thompson; Trump campaigner Thomas Tucker; and Peach State Approach founder Brittany Ellison attended the event.
“We have representatives from city, statewide, county wide and regional,” Puckett said. “So the first thing we want to talk about is local government.”
Panelists gave insight into their career histories, sharing their connection to the local community and commitment to public service. They also encouraged students and the greater community to engage in local government.
“When I was young, we were always involved in some campaign in some way,” Roth said. “Then it just kind of led into a life of being engaged.”
Ellison added, “I started putting signs together in the backroom of a campaign office in Gwinnett County where no one knew my name. That’s what you do to get started.”
Panelists also upheld the need to collaborate in a nonpartisan manner to achieve collective goals.
“There’s nothing partisan about a pothole, right? It needs to be filled,” Roth said. “It doesn’t matter if the problem is Democratic, Republican or libertarian.”
Barry continued, “If you pick up a newspaper, or if you look at the TV, you’re going to think that there’s an automatic separation of everybody. But if you put everybody in a room and let them talk, there is far less distance between everybody.”
They stressed the need for more involvement and higher voter turnout, with speakers emphasizing the importance of the community going to the polls to have their voices heard.
Seated from left to right is Jeff Thompson, Thomas Tucker and Brittany Ellison.
“Whoever you vote for in November will represent you at the Capitol in January and vote on hundreds of bills that are going to affect your everyday life,” Ellison said.
“There are a lot of people who vote in presidential elections but skip local elections,” Roth said. Thompson emphasized the importance of informed voting, adding, “Vote intelligently. Do your research and understand that not everyone telling you how to vote has your best interests in mind.”
For students interested in joining the College Conservatives club, reach out to [email protected]
Lance Barry handing the microphone to Jeff Thompson as they discuss how to get more involved in government at a local level. “If you don’t believe in what you’re advocating for the first time you meet an obstacle, you will fall back and it won’t go forward,” Barry said.
Voter registration drives were held across all campuses throughout the week, encouraging students to exercise their right to vote and promote the student voice. Georgia is a swing state in the upcoming presidential election and only around 50% of people aged 18 to 29 voted in the 2020 election.
All counties are required by law to permit early in-person voting at multiple locations, as well as absentee voting. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 7 and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 25.
Both can be completed by filling out the appropriate forms on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. Early in-person voting begins 21 days before Election Day, running from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, with varying availability across the state.
For counties where each of GHC’s campuses are located, the following information is available on local, government-run websites.
