Following the removal of the Memorial Student Center, or MSC, as an on-campus early voting location, individuals from around Texas have stepped up to sponsor a solution.
Aggie Spirit charter buses will run 10 hours a day during the duration of early voting, according to Mothers Against Greg Abbott State PAC, or MAGA. Buses will pick students up on Lubbock Street, near the Nagle Street intersection and drop them off at Gilchrist Avenue near the College Station City Hall. The buses are funded by several entities and organized by MAGA.
MAGA founder Nancy Thompson said it was clear to the organizers action needed to be taken after the MSC was removed as an early voting location.
“We didn’t know first who to talk to and where to go and all of those things, so we had to do a little bit of research, as an organization, to figure out what all the rules are around taking students to the polls,” Thompson said. “One of the first things we did was that we reached out to the Texas Democratic Party and we talked to their lawyers to see what we were able to do legally with the new voting laws.”
After speaking with the lawyers, Thompson said the organization made a list of all Texas colleges that may be impacted by lack of access to rides to polling locations.
“[After that], we reached out to the [Texas Aggie Democrat club] at Texas A&M, and then [joined] them and their group chat,” Thompson said. “From the group chat, we discovered that there were a few people that were willing to donate to sponsor buses. Buses are primarily going to be sponsored by [an anonymous] professor on campus.”
The complete list of donors includes Voters of Tomorrow, A&M Transportation, an A&M professor and the A&M chapter of Mobilize, Organize, Vote and Empower, or MOVE.
Voters of Tomorrow aims to engage, represent and empower Gen Z voters across the nation. Voters of Tomorrow spokesperson Jack Lobel said the organization was inspired to sponsor buses to make voting more accessible to students.
“We encourage students to take advantage of this and show up at the polls and show the far right that we’re not going to keep accepting the status quo,” Lobel said. “We’re not going to keep you know, they’re not going to be able to continue to launch these attacks against us on issues from book bands to the LGBTQ plus community, to gun violence in schools to climate change.”
Lobel said Voters of Tomorrow has been active in Texas due to concerns over the actions of far-right state legislature and current Gov. Greg Abbott that are inherently anti young people.
“That’s why it’s so important for students in Texas to get involved,” Lobel said. “If we show the far right now in Texas, that young people here will not stand for their attacks and will stand up to them, I think that’s going to send a message to leaders across the country about the power of Gen Z in this space. The youth turnout in Texas could have national implications, and that’s why we’re getting involved in this capacity.”
Thompson said any money not used will be donated to provide the Prairie View A&M campus community with buses for limited hours during early voting.
“I don’t care if a child is going to vote for a Republican, independent, libertarian or Democrat,” Thompson said. “I want them to actively start participating in democracy and that means voting. That’s what matters the most to our organization right now. What matters the most is that we get the kids voting and we start establishing a culture of voting at a very young age. As soon as they can vote, we should get everybody educated [on] voting.”
