For an estimated 8.3 members of Gen Z, it will be the first general election in which they are eligible to vote. And Fordham is doing its part to help get them to the polls, said Lesley A. Massiah-Arthur, associate vice president and special assistant to the president for government relations. 

In addition to partnering with the organizers of National Voter Registration Day, her office will be announcing initiatives in the coming weeks to help people register and—most importantly—exercise their right to vote.

“As Fordham people for others, we have a responsibility to be citizens engaged in the civic life of our local, state, and national communities,” she said. 

“For students who have not yet registered to vote, we can help provide the start of their lifelong engagement.”

Here are a few things you should know to fulfill your civic duty.

When is the next general election?

Tuesday, Nov. 5

What races will be on the ballot?

In addition to the president and vice president, Americans will choose who will hold all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate. Thirteen state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be up for grabs.

Who can vote?

You can vote if you:

—are a United States citizen (either by birth or naturalization)

—meet your state’s residency requirements

—are at least 18 years old. Some states allow 17-year-olds to pre-register if they will be 18 before the general election; however, you must be 18 to vote.

When is the last day to register to vote?

In some states, the deadline is as early as Oct. 4. In New York state, the registration deadline is Oct. 26 for both online and paper applications. A full list of deadlines for registering can be found here.

I am a student at Fordham. Can I vote in New York?

Yes! If you are interested in political issues that affect the state, you can register using your current New York state address. Detailed instructions on how to do so can be found here. 

How can I get an absentee ballot to vote in my home state? 

Rules vary by state, but in general, you can apply for an absentee ballot and vote in your home state. Visit Vote.org for information.

Who should I vote for? 

We can’t tell you that, but there are several great nonpartisan voter information sites that offer information on candidates, including their biographies, voting records, positions on issues, and campaign contributors. Visit Vote Smart, Vote 411, or Ballot Ready for more.

Dear Members of the Fordham Community,

Exercising your right to vote on Election Day is an important duty, too important to ignore or neglect. As Fordham people for others, we have a responsibility to be citizens engaged in the civic life of our local, state, and national communities. For those of you who have not yet registered to vote, let Fordham provide the start of your lifelong engagement.

REGISTER TO VOTE

If you are not registered to vote, you can register online at vote.org. You may also check your registration status, update your information if it has changed since your last registration, and request an absentee ballot if you are not going to be in your home state on Election Day. Note: If you need to update or correct your registration information (e.g., your name or address), simply fill out the voter registration form. To register to vote, you must

• be a United States citizen (either by birth or naturalization);
• meet your state’s residency requirements;
• be at least 18 years old. (Some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries or register to vote if they will be 18 before the general election.)

Please know that if you plan on voting in the Tuesday, November 3, general election, you must register to vote on or before the registration deadline of your home state. For example, if you are interested in voting for candidates running for office in New York state, your application must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2020, and received by a board of elections no later than October 14, 2020. You may find each state’s registration deadline on vote.org.

ABSENTEE VOTING

Each state has mail-in voting but some allow you to take part only in certain circumstances:

• Some states require an excuse for voting by mail. Due to the coronavirus, some states are giving all voters an excuse to vote by mail for certain elections.
• Because of the coronavirus, your state may automatically send you an absentee ballot or a form to fill out to request one.

Please check your state election office for the specific rules for your state.

In New York state, if you are registered to vote and wish to vote absentee due to COVID-19, you must fill out an application to request an absentee ballot. You may apply for an absentee ballot at the New York State Board of Elections and select the “temporary illness or physical disability” reason when completing your application. This is true even if you voted by absentee ballot in the June 2020 primary and checked the box requesting an absentee ballot for the November general election.

Further, recent changes to the election law allow all absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day or received by the Board of Elections without a postmark (the ballot is submitted directly) on the day after the election to be counted. Ballots with a postmark demonstrating that they were mailed on or before Election Day will be counted if received by Tuesday, November 10, a week after Election Day.

As a reminder, if you plan to vote by mail, you should request your ballot as early as possible to ensure you have enough time to receive and return it.

EARLY VOTING

Sometimes, personal or professional conflicts make it hard or impossible for you to vote on Election Day. However, your state may let registered voters vote on specified dates before Election Day. This early voting chart lists time frames for states that offer early voting. Please note that the rules change from state to state. The best place to check is your state/territorial election office website. Check under “absentee voting” if you do not see information listed under “voting in person” or “early voting.”

If you are registered to vote in New York state, you may vote early for the general election. Early voting starts on October 24 and runs until November 1, 2020. You can find the times and places where you can vote early at the New York State Board of Elections.

MAKING AN INFORMED CHOICE

Finally, it can be difficult to determine the positions of each candidate running for office. Please feel free to visit nonpartisan voter information sites such as votesmart.org, vote411.org, and isidewith.com for more information on candidates, including their biographies, their voting records, their positions on issues, and contributions to their campaigns.

Participating in the democratic process is a privilege and responsibility we all share. Please be sure to register and vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.

While psychologists have used the test extensively, it’s never been used by political scientists to gauge how those characteristics might affect the way people vote—until now.

A new book by Monika McDermott, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science, explores the subject in Masculinity, Femininity, and American Political Behavior (Oxford University Press, 2016). Based on part on a study of more than 800 participants, the book delves into how political behavior can be influenced by gendered personality traits. It also demonstrates that biological sex does not necessarily dictate gendered personalities or partisan preferences as traditionally believed.

McDermott had heard the idea that certain gendered traits are associated with particular political parties, with the Democratic Party believed to hold a compassionate, feminine nature to the Republican Party’s tougher, more masculine nature.

“I started thinking of this in 2012 when I taught a class, Women in Politics, and we covered the idea of masculine and feminine voting—as opposed to biological sex,” said McDermott. “Most political science research involves biological sex. This is separate from that.”

Given that the course she was teaching focused on women, McDermott said the class roster skewed toward women. But when she administered the Bem test in class, she found that some of the women possessed more masculine traits, such as aggressiveness and competitiveness, than the feminine traits, such as compassion and gentleness.

“These were college-attending, career driven women in New York City,” said McDermott. “You have to have elements of competitiveness and strength to even come here.”

McDermott acknowledged that there is some criticism of the Bem inventory’s categorizations, but the categories still help define perceived differences between the two dimensions, she said.

With the results of the Women in Politics class in hand, McDermott began to distribute the Bem questionnaire to all of her political science classes—a more biologically diverse group. There she found that masculine characteristics often aligned with Republicans and feminine characteristics aligned with Democrats.

It was then that McDermott began to contemplate a nationwide study. She designed a questionnaire that merged the Bem questions with questions on political attitudes and activities. That questionnaire forms the basis for her book.

“This is completely intuitive stuff, but we applied a quantitative method,” she said, adding that her students helped inspire the research. “It’s amazing that no one has applied it to political activity. Pundits talk about this, but there’s no one who has checked it out.”

McDermott said that her next study would be on how candidates’ gendered personalities may have an effect on voters—a topic she says is ripe for the upcoming election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“You have people who have very obvious masculine traits, which is what we look for in a political leader, but there’s a cognitive dissonance for voters if the candidate is a woman,” she said.