Election 2022: SMC at the Polls
A voting center on the SMC main campus provided students with easy access to voting in the 2022 Midterm elections.
On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Santa Monica College (SMC) students, staff and residents took advantage of a voting center on the main campus to cast their vote in the 2022 Midterm elections.
Lining the walkways of the main campus were signs with arrows pointing in the direction of the cafeteria. Students followed the markers to the Cayton Center faculty lounge, where several electronic voting booths were set up.
SMC Admissions and Records Clerk Erin Gipson usually votes by mail, but said that she came to the voting center on campus for the experience. One of the issues she felt passionate about was Proposition 29, centered on requiring physicians to be on-site for dialysis treatments.
“I have a couple family members who have to use those services,” Gipson said. “So I think it’s important to kind of keep a handle on how they’re regulated.”
Santa Monica College student Monae Grant sits outside of the Santa Monica College voting center on November 8th, 2022. Santa Monica, Calif. (Neil O’Loughlin | The Corsair)
The voting center allowed students, Santa Monica residents and any Los Angeles County residents to cast their vote using the electronic voting machines or drop off their mail-in ballots.
This election was the first time several SMC students have had the opportunity to vote. For Monae Grant, a 19-year-old economics major, being able to vote was exciting. Having been a poll worker in the 2020 General Election, she was eager to be engaged in the election process.
“I've been seeing a lot of the things that have been happening in local politics, and I think I wanted to be able to have a say in who's going to be doing the things in my city,” she said.
18-year-old Ximena Lopez, a cosmetology and business major, felt rushed despite how simple she found the process. She said that due to her studies, she wasn’t able to do the amount of research she wanted to do.
“I think it is part of my duty civically,” she said. “So I did all the research I could, and just came here after class.”
The voting center first opened over the weekend on Saturday, allowing early voting and accepting drop-offs. Despite the rainstorms that began Monday morning, several students and Santa Monica residents made the trip.
Santa Monica resident Maria Caraves said she learned about the college's voting center through an email, and walked from her home on 17th Street in the rain on Monday, Nov. 7, to drop off her ballot.
Colt James, a first-year student, noticed the many signs on campus directing students to the voting center on Monday, and decided to come in and cast his vote.
“It’s because of accessibility,” he said. “I didn't get my mail ballot delivered to me in time, otherwise I would have done the mail-in ballot.”
Many statewide propositions were on the ballot this election, and races for important positions for LA Mayor, City Council, Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and more.
The election results for statewide and local races can be found by visiting the LA County Registrar website.
