On Thursday, Sept. 19, Beto O’Rourke visited Texas A&M’s Rudder Theater as part of his Ready to Vote Tour, hosted by the Aggie Democrats, to give a speech and register students to vote.

O’Rourke was joined by Fred Medina, the Democratic candidate for Texas House 14, and Theresa Boisseau, the Democratic candidate for Congressional District 10. Medina and Boisseau both spoke about their platforms and their intentions if they are elected, namely protecting funding for public education and women’s reproductive rights, and O’Rourke rounded out the event by discussing the importance of the youth vote.

The Ready to Vote Tour is put on by Powered by the People, a voter mobilization organization founded by O’Rourke. Powered by the People is a volunteer-based effort to register Texas voters and mobilize young voters for progressive policies. Voter registration for young people and college students has been historically low, which is the motivation behind O’Rourke’s tour to visit college campuses across Texas.

“We’re trying to meet students where they are to get them registered, verify their registration, update their registration and then stay in touch with them through the election to make sure that they vote,” O’Rourke said.

Student organization Aggie Democrats helped organize the event and contributed registrar volunteers.

“For me personally, I think it’s very important for O’Rourke to come out here and encourage people to vote,” said psychology senior Giovanna Fazzino, an Aggie Democrats member. “It is such a wonderful tool that we all have to make a difference, so if there are candidates in these races that embody your values and what you want to see happen, it’s a great way to make change.”

Powered by the People is also unique in that it follows voters through the election process, O’Rourke said. With voters’ permission, the group stays in contact with voters to ensure they are prepared for election day.

“Ahead of the election we make sure that they’ve received their voter registration card, that they know what form of ID is accepted at polling locations and that they understand the day that voting begins, the hours of their nearest early-voting location,” O’Rourke said.

Throughout his speech, O’Rourke spoke on alleged voter suppression in Texas and how it targets minorities and college students. The focus was on the Civil Rights Act and, subsequently, the 15th Amendment to emphasize the importance of voting. He also spoke on Texas’ legislative policies, which he claimed have directly suppressed college students’ access to voting.

“If it didn’t count, they would not be trying so hard to stop young people from voting,” O’Rourke said. “In Texas, they have closed more than 700 polling locations, many of them on or around college campuses. They have moved polling locations … they have split up colleges into different precincts to try to confuse voters about where they’re registered … in 2022, they rejected 13% of the mail-in ballots.”

O’Rourke was hopeful that college students could reverse the trend of low voter turnout by showing up to vote in this coming election and future elections.

“No one sees you coming,” O’Rourke said. “You’re on no one’s radar. No one’s expecting you to make a difference in this election … so 18-to-29-year-olds are really the secret weapon. If they turn out to vote, they will literally decide the State House, U.S. Congressional, U.S. Senate and potentially even presidential elections, so there’s a lot of power on this campus.”

Throughout his seven years of visiting A&M, O’Rourke has encouraged young people not only to vote but also to get involved with political conversations. O’Rourke said regardless of party affiliations, or lack thereof, open dialogue is vital to diminishing today’s extreme political division.

“We’ve got to show up and meet each other where we’re at,” O’Rourke said. “Even if we end up not agreeing on every issue, because no two people ever will, the conversation is worth it … just coming together and seeing each other face-to-face, being able to listen to one another and hopefully find some common ground from which we can move forward.”