Hillsdale College Republicans collect vote registrations from students for Michigan in the upcoming election. Courtesy | crnc.com

Hillsdale College Republicans has registered more than 200 students to vote in Michigan, according to president of Hillsdale College Republicans junior Joseph “Hinson” Peed.

“We’re trying to get out the vote for Donald Trump,” communications chair for Hillsdale College Republicans senior Micah Hart said. “Michigan is one of the most important swing states, if not the most important. I think one of Trump’s best paths to victory is through Michigan.”

Josiah Jones, the club’s vice president, said it’s important for students to know that it is completely legal for them to vote in Hillsdale rather than their hometown.

“According to the Michigan voter registration form, it is legal for college students to vote in the state of Michigan if they have been residents in the state for at least 30 days prior to the election,” Jones said. “As college students, we are considered residents of Michigan.”

According to Jones, voting in Hillsdale allows students to vote in person rather than by mail, which limits concerns about election security.

“A lot of students are more comfortable voting in person,” Jones said. 

Trump won Michigan by 11,612 votes in 2016 and Biden won it by 154,188 votes in 2020, according to Politico. 

It’s important that young voters understand the stakes of this election, Jones said.

“As young voters, the future of a Kamala Harris presidency is going to hurt us more than anybody else,” he said. “If anybody should be worried about this election, it should be us. We need to make sure we are voting where our vote is going to have the most impact.”

According to Peed, the College Republicans have registered more than 200 students to vote in Michigan.

Peed said the Hillsdale College Republicans will be making sure students in swing states send in their absentee ballots by their state’s deadline. College Republicans will be helping students who are voting in Hillsdale make it to the polls, Peed said.

“There are nine days of early voting in Hillsdale,” Peed said. “We are going to be organizing rides throughout the early voting period and on Election Day to make sure that all of our students across campus are either voting here in Michigan or back at home.”

Peed said he believes Michigan would benefit from a Trump presidency because of the impact outsourcing has had on manufacturing in recent years.

“I was just at a town hall in Warren, Michigan, last week hearing from people at auto plants about how their plants are either shutting down or facing massive layoffs because these industries are going overseas,” Peed said. “We know that the Harris-Walz administration won’t give us a strong economy. Harris has been vice president for three and a half years and hasn’t done it.”

Hart said in states like Michigan, each individual vote is important to the future of the election. 

“Sometimes it feels like your vote doesn’t matter, but it always does,” he said. “Even one vote can change a district or a county, so it’s really important that students get out to vote this November.”