It’s October, so that means one thing: it is election season! As the 2026 midterm elections rapidly approach this vast nation, it provides a chance for everyone across the country to have their voices heard. For college students, that process looks a little different, particularly for those voting by mail.
For a brief introduction into what the midterm elections entail, these are the elections for the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, state governorships, state legislatures, local city councils, and statewide amendments, among many more.
The AP states that, “The 2026 midterm elections will shape the final two years of President Donald Trump’s second term. Voters will decide control of Congress, with around one-third of the U.S. Senate and all of the U.S. House up for election. They’ll also elect dozens of governors, legislators and mayors further down the ballot.”
What is important to remember about the midterms is that not every state has the same things on the ballot. Some states will have a governor’s race in addition to a senate race, they could have one of the two, or neither will be up for election this year. Midterms look very different in every state, including many New England states where much of Springfield’s campus hails from.
Many students are not close enough to their home polling location, so they can request an absentee ballot to be mailed to the school. However, the process of requesting a ballot can be challenging, as there are numerous steps involved.
The first step is to check your voter registration. If a student voted in the 2024 elections, then they are most likely still registered voters. It is always important to check that information early on. For students who did not vote in 2024, or this is their first eligible election, the first step is to visit their state’s election website and register on their official page. It is critical to ensure they are the correct websites, and the easiest way to do so is to make sure their websites end in .gov.
Registering to vote is step one. Step two is where the process gets a bit more complicated: obtaining an absentee ballot for students voting by mail. That can be done by filling out the absentee ballot request form. That form can also be found on your state’s election website.
After mailing that to the specified polling location, which can be found on your county’s election page, your state will then mail back your requested ballot. At last, comes the final step, which is to mail your ballot back to the same place. Students at Springfield College can drop off their ballots either in the mailing room in the basement of Locklin Hall or in the blue US Postal Service box outside Locklin Hall.
An important factor in all of this is that each state’s deadlines differ, so it is important to request the ballot early enough. The deadline for voter registration and the absentee ballot request form differ, but in New England states minus Rhode Island, there are still 1-3 weeks remaining to register. All states still have a few more weeks to request a ballot before their deadlines. Mailing ballots can occasionally take a while, so it’s important to begin this process sooner rather than later.
Despite it being a long process, voting is the most important way to have your voice heard. Many of the high-profile races around the country could very well come down to the youth turnout, so no better chance to have your own say in the future of this country.