Students and community members cast votes inside the UMC on Nov. 8, 2022. (Henry Larson/CU Independent)
University of Colorado Boulder students showed up to the polls in high numbers on Nov. 8. They were greeted by a wide array of issue advocates and non-partisan ‘get out the vote’ groups.
Students lined up in front of the University Memorial Center (UMC) to drop off their ballots or vote in-person.
Hannah Pritch, a Boulder resident studying classics at CU Boulder, said she came to vote in-person because of her connection to the university and city.
“I was raised in Boulder, so I feel like I have a vested interest in the outcome of the election,” she said.
Pritch said she was most interested in voting on the measure opposing the CU South annexation.
Senior and first-year master’s student Lila Crank accompanied her friend, who came to vote in-person. She said that it’s important for young people to vote to have their voices heard.
“This is an integral time to vote, as always, particularly as someone who is woman-identified and as someone who values having government leaders who I know would most likely produce what I am interested in protecting,” she said.
Several Boulder community members stood outside the UMC to speak with prospective voters.
Jean McAuliffe is a Boulder resident and opponent of the CU South annexation; she supports voting yes on the ballot measure. McAuliffe said she’s spoken with hundreds of CU Boulder students to get the word out about her issue.
“If they [CU Boulder] build over that land, paving paradise and all the all the parking lots and buildings, it’s going to make [CU South] even worse,” she said.
Members of anti-annexation advocacy groups had heated interactions with proponents of the annexation, approaching students while they were talking with those in favor of the deal (and against the ballot measure).
Board of Regents Chair-at-Large Lesley Smith tabled in favor of the CU South annexation. She handed out t-shirts and flyers to passersby.
Smith said she was in favor of the annexation because of its commitment to flood protection, which she said could save lives in the event of another flood like the one that occurred in 2013.
She also said the deal would provide “attainable housing” for CU Boulder community members and could attract faculty looking for cheaper places to live.
“I believe that our voices as students and as young people need to be heard,” Crank said. “This has just been a lifetime for me of making sure that I have civic participation.”
William Oster and Henry Larson contributed to this story.
Contact CU Independent News Editor Bella Hammond at isabella.hammond@colorado.edu.
CU Independent Guest Writer Gabbie Burton at gabbie.burton@colorado.edu.
