With the 2018 midterm elections coming Tuesday, Nov. 6, college students are in an interesting position. Some are ready, while some may struggle to find time to get to the polls. Others may feel uninformed.

Elizabethtown College’s chapters of the College Democrats and the College Republicans sought to remedy the latter problem in early October by hosting town hall meetings with local candidates.

The College Democrats’ event took place Tuesday, Oct. 2. with Jess King and Mary Auker-Endres as the featured candidates. King is running against incumbent Lloyd Smucker to represent Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Auker-Endres is running against incumbent Dave Hickernell to represent the 98th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Also Tuesday, Oct. 2, the College Republicans hosted a town hall meeting with Jeff Bartos, the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Pennsylvania, in Hoover 212. Bartos is running with gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner against current Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf.

The College Republicans’ event featured a question-and-answer session during which people asked about Bartos’ plans for his time in office if elected and about Pennsylvania politics in general.

“I think the biggest take-away from the event is that Jeff Bartos has a plan to fix Pennsylvania along with his running mate,” senior College Republicans President Kyle Schaeffer said in an email. “The Wagner/Bartos campaign’s main focus is to bring prosperity to Pennsylvania through pro-business policies that can grow the economy.”

Junior College Democrats President Kory Trout and sophomore Matthew Smith described King as “very knowledgeable about issues” and as a supporter of the idea of “Medicare for All.”

They compared her to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Their event also featured time for the candidates to describe their plans and platforms and take questions.

“A lot of candidates seem like they’re up in an ivory tower or superhuman, and people feel like they can’t approach them,” Smith said. “I didn’t feel that with [King].”

For some voters, candidates themselves are not the only things that may seem unapproachable; this can also be the case for the elections themselves. For personal or physical reasons, some Americans do not vote.

According to the New York Times, just over a third of those who were eligible voted in the last midterm elections in 2014, even though as much as 80 percent of people used to vote in past centuries. They cited people being too busy to vote as a common reason not to cast a ballot.

Recently, however, organizations are trying to fix that. Ride services Uber and Lyft announced they will take customers to the polls for free or reduced prices on Election Day. Celebrities including former First Lady Michelle Obama and country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are co-chairing a nonprofit called “When We All Vote” to encourage voter registration. The College’s town hall meetings allowed those who vote locally and throughout all of Pennsylvania to learn about candidates on both sides.

Senior Cameron Wirth is registered to vote.

“I feel like our generation as a whole really has a big say in where our country goes, and I think we can shift the tides of what’s going on in the world,” Wirth said.

Trout, Schaeffer and Smith are also registered and planning on voting this year.

“People have the ability to have their voices heard, and the opportunity to start meaningful change,” Trout said. “It’s our duty to make sure we do good for the world.”

“I feel like it is my civic duty to elect people to represent me in Harrisburg and Washington D.C.,” Schaeffer said.

Where these students differ is in their opinions on the validity of reasons not to vote.

“Whether [not voting] is justifiable is somebody’s opinion,” Wirth said. “Overall it is their right to vote and they have a right to say no.”

Schaeffer said he thinks the most valid reasons not to vote are not being informed on the election’s main issues or truly not caring about the results.

Still, he encouraged those on the fence to do their best to inform themselves.

Trout disagreed. “There’s no valid excuse unless you’re on your deathbed,” he said as Smith nodded beside him. “And even then, there’s still voting absentee.”