(Hampton, Va.)—With college students comprising a critical voting bloc for the 2024 General Election, Hampton journalism students have produced an Absentee Voting Guide. The Guide is available at Absentee Voter Guide.
Covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Guide features an interactive map that details how voters can cast their ballots by mail. Through the Guide, readers can learn about the deadlines to request and return absentee ballots as well as the qualifications for voting by mail.
“Researching, critical reading and wading through confusing information is an important part of a journalist’s job,” said Professor Devika Koppikar, who spearheaded the project. “By reading through state election board websites, students learned how voting can be both easy or challenging, depending upon the state.”
For example, some students learned that in their assigned state, homeless or displaced people have several voting options, while other states present confusing websites with broken links, creating voting barriers.
To complete the guide, 52 students in the sophomore-level course, “Reporting and Writing Across Platforms,” were each assigned a state. Students had to comb through the state’s election website and call to clarify any discrepancies about absentee voting. Then, the students sent their drafts to the editing team from the senior-level “Content Editing” course, who made corrections to their work. Finally, four journalism students who are also in the university’s Honors College designed the booklet and interactive map to fulfill a project requirement.
“Journalism and democracy are tightly intertwined. For that reason, it’s important to get students involved in learning to research, report and write about the basics of our election system,” said Professor Koppikar, who previously worked as a press secretary to two Members of the U.S. Congress.
“We are very proud of the excellent work Professor Koppikar and her students have done to produce such a first-rate Absentee Voters Guide,” said Julia A. Wilson, dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. “We hope the Guide will serve as a useful tool and encourage everyone to vote.”
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About Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications
The Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications is committed to preparing its students with a high-quality and well-rounded education for global careers in journalism and strategic communications. SHSJC emphasizes accuracy, balance, fairness, integrity, and high ethical standards of excellence through journalism and strategic communications. The Scripps Howard brand is internationally renowned as an educational foundation that promotes, supports, and enables aspiring journalists.
For More Information: https://home.hamptonu.edu/shsjc/
Media Contact: Devika Koppikar devika.koppikar@hamptonu.edu or 757-727-5437 (land line)