In the effort to help WashU students build a habit of voting in every election and to provide a convenient outlet for faculty, staff, and other St. Louis County voters, the Gephardt Institute — for the second time — hosted a polling place on April 8 for Missouri’s Municipal Election.
“It was great honor to host an on-campus St. Louis County municipal election polling place on the Danforth Campus for the second time in WashU history, said Civic Engagement Manager Otto Brown, who coordinates with the St. Louis County Board of Elections to host polling places at WashU. “Having a proximate polling location is an important step in promoting good habits of voter engagement among our entire community — students, faculty, staff, and neighbors.”
Located in the Danforth University Center (DUC), the polling place was open for all St. Louis County voters. WashU Votes — the student-run voter engagement committee within the Gephardt Institute — hosted its Party at the Polls event outside the DUC, serving up coffee in the morning and food at noon, and helping WashU students check their voter registration and register to vote. A total of 289 ballots were cast on campus.
“Having a polling place on campus is fantastic,” said Adam Brok, Service and Immersion Experiences Coordinator for Campus Life, a department whose offices are in the DUC. “It definitely makes it more convenient and easier to vote and fulfill my civic duty. I think everyone would appreciate and prefer to have a polling place at their work.”
Brok explained that lines at polling places before and after work and during lunch, or leaving work to go off campus to vote, can make it difficult to meet his usual obligations.
“Being able to go whenever I want and when it works with my work schedule makes it easier for me to get in and out faster,” he said. “Overall, it’s just super helpful and convenient — and much appreciated.”
Brown pointed out that the 289 ballots cast in the DUC on April 8 represented a 25 percent increase over the ballots cast at WashU’s polling place during the April 2024 Missouri Municipal Election, and that planning is underway for the 2026 elections.
“We look forward to hosting future polling places for both municipal and federal elections, he said. “And we thank our partners at the St. Louis County Board of Elections, WashU Student Affairs, and WashU Government and Community Relations for their support.”
WashU Votes is part of the Gephardt Institute’s Engage Democracy pillar, and is supported by generous donations to the Gephardt Institute. If you would like to make a gift to support WashU Votes’ voter engagement efforts on- and off-campus, please click here or contact Stephanie Kurtzman, Executive Director of the Gephardt Institute, at GephardtAdvancement@wustl.edu.