Before Ballots Are Cast
Helping students vote and teaching civics showed me how democracy is practiced
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Sitting at a table for hours on a chilly October day, hoping someone would stop and register to vote, may not be what most people imagine when they think of an empowering experience. But for me, as an intern with Rutgers University’s Center for Youth Political Participation, helping even one person participate in democracy made every hour worthwhile. The center runs two related internship programs: RU Voting, which helps college students participate in elections, and RU Ready, which brings civic education into middle and high school classrooms across New Jersey.
As an RU Voting intern, I facilitated voter registration and voter mobilization events across campus leading up to Election Day 2025. At our tables, we helped students determine the best way to cast their ballots by explaining their voting and registration options. We never told students how to vote. Rather, we provided practical, nonpartisan information about how to exercise their right to vote.
One interaction especially resonated with me. A student approached our table confident he had a plan to vote, only to discover he needed to update his address before Election Day. The moment stayed with me because he was eager to participate. All he needed was reliable information to cast his ballot. It reminded me that many young adults want to participate but simply lack access to the guidance they need.
Citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four consistently vote at lower rates than older age groups, according to the US Census Bureau. RU Voting helps address that gap by bringing voting information directly to students. We also use conversation starters, from opinion polls to fun facts, to spark discussions about voting and other civic opportunities.
Working with college students made me wonder why so many arrive on campus without knowing how the voting process works. I found part of the answer through my internship with RU Ready. While some of the middle and high school students I taught understood the role voting plays in democracy, many others lacked basic information about their rights and responsibilities as citizens. For me, learning about democracy and my constitutional rights in middle and high school helped me understand the importance of participating from an early age.
The RU Voting and RU Ready internships further taught me that civic participation begins well before someone casts a ballot. Whether I was helping a college student update an address before Election Day or speaking with middle and high school students about their constitutional rights, the goal was the same: to show that civics is not confined to a classroom or a textbook but something we practice through our everyday choices and participation in our communities. The most meaningful part of my internships was helping people see that democracy belongs to everyone. Every conversation, whether at a voter registration table or in a classroom, has the potential to help someone feel more informed, more confident, and better prepared to participate in civic life.
Photo: Umehani Rehmanji (left) and fellow RU Voting interns run a voter registration drive for high school students at Piscataway Magnet School in fall 2025. (Courtesy Umehani Rehmanji)
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