If you attended the Welcome Back BBQ on Sept. 12, you should remember seeing ErinMarie Tierney, the associate director of Student Life & Activities, informing students to register and pledge to vote in the upcoming elections. NJ Ballot Bowl is a statewide competition to see which higher education institution can get the most pledges and registrants to vote per their number of enrolled students.

NJ Ballot Bowl is a method to encourage democracy and active participation in our electoral process. This year NJ residents are voting for the president, a U.S. senator and Congress members on the national level, as well as numerous other positions in municipal elections.

NJ Ballot understands that voter registration is the initial step, however, going in to vote is the goal. The voters must understand the value of voting and how their vote affects their community.

NJ Ballot Bowl’s purpose is to have a competition to get more voters this election. The contest began on Sept. 3 and ends on Election Day, Nov. 5. The bowl is a method to strengthen democracy, increase civic engagement, to broaden community and encourage public life.

The Ballot Bowl will also conduct a Ballot Bowl Community Engagement competition. The community engagement competition is separate from the Ballot Bowl for voter registration. Community engagement encourages participants in the bowl to seek out people in their community to register and pledge to vote.