During the 2026 midterm election, conversations surrounding Generation Z’s political engagement and growing voter fatigue continue to shape expectations for young voters. In Howard University’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter and other campus organizations, student leaders are working to challenge that narrative and mobilize their peers.
Across campus, student organizations launched voter registration drives, distributed election resources and encouraged students to make voting plans. Young and first-time voters can be further discouraged by states’ differing election rules. These efforts have aimed to help students understand absentee ballot procedures and voting regulations.
Aina Samuels, a sophomore TV and film production major from Pahokee, Florida, is an events coordinator for the Howard University Florida Club. She organized an event on Oct. 29 to discuss the importance of voting called “Amendment to You.”
“My point was to continuously educate our community on why voting is much more than just checking off a box,” Samuels said. “You have the power to change your community.”
The event featured student leaders, including Chair of the Howard University Student Association (HUSA) Senate Antwon Walkin, HUSA Vice President Ryanna Mowatt, and the 88th Miss Howard University Ssanyu Lukoma.
Samuels also said she wanted to show Florida students that they still have a voice, despite the state’s political climate. New state guidelines bar students from using college IDs to vote, adding to the growing barriers to youth participation.
“Florida also has educated, young, Black people that are willing to put their best foot forward,” Samuels said.
Also in partnership with HUSA, the Men of George Washington Carver, Inc. had a “Forever Stamped” event on Oct. 20 to distribute postage stamps for mail-in ballots and provide information on the voting process.
Outside of student organizations, the Howard University Alumni Association released social media posts with voting information. The posts were reshared by local subgroups, including the Atlanta chapter — Georgia’s gubernatorial and Senate elections are key battlegrounds this cycle.
For Howard University’s NAACP chapter, voter engagement has remained a priority throughout the academic year.
According to chapter president Bijou-Elyse Wallace, a senior political science major from Springfield, Massachusetts, the organization has incorporated voter registration efforts into 16 events on and off campus, including voter outreach tables and its participation in the Aug. 28 march alongside the National Action Network and the National NAACP.
Through its Political Action Committee, the chapter has organized informational tables and developed a voter guide covering registration requirements, ballot information and voting procedures across all 50 states.
Beyond registration, Wallace identified rising living costs, changes to federal student loans and cuts to educational funding and internship opportunities as major concerns motivating students to vote.
However, absentee voting has presented challenges for students who have not received their mail-in ballots.
“I’ve checked our mailing room. I checked the mailing room of the apartment complex next door, have not received it,” Wallace said, describing her own experience waiting for an absentee ballot.
“Students have reached out to me and said they haven’t received it or they received it late. So now they believe if they mail it in, it won’t be received on time,” she added.
To address these concerns, the chapter planned a voter registration community cookout outside the Armour J. Blackburn University Center on Oct. 30, providing students with nonpartisan election information and voting resources.
Joy Asamoah belongs to the group Wallace identified as having trouble voting by mail. Asamoah is a senior criminology major voting in Columbus, Ohio. She said that requesting a ballot verbally via Ohio’s automated call system was difficult.
“After I provided all the information to verify me, it said, ‘We’re going to connect you to someone,’ and then immediately it would hang up,” Asamoah said.
In her view, this suggested the state government didn’t care whether people voted — Asamoah had to advocate for herself.
She said that while it may have been easier to vote in D.C., casting a ballot in her home state carried more weight.
“It’s a responsibility in the sense that I can’t afford to not vote,” Asamoah said. “It’s a swing state, and in this kind of election, it has the possibility to go red. So I need to vote in Ohio,” she added.
She said her resolve is a byproduct of those who came before her.
“There are people who came before me who were never given the right to vote. So to sit with that power and privilege,” Asamoah described, “I knew that I had to make sure my voice was heard.”
Asamoah said combating Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as standing up for minorities’ rights, are driving her to the polls.
“It’s incredibly important to make sure that our political choices mirror the movements we claim to believe in,” Asamoah said.
On election night, the College of Arts and Sciences and Howard’s NAACP chapter will host a watch party starting at 6:30 pm in the Axis Multipurpose Room.
“We need to make sure that we’re being civilly engaged so that our voices can drown out the sound of those who are determined to silence us,” Asamoah said.
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.
