Voting can be tough for some people, especially college students with barriers like transportation and class schedules. With this year’s state budget came a new change that will impact students.

College campuses with at least 300 active voters will need to have a polling place. According to the Onondaga County Board of Elections, colleges like Syracuse University, LeMoyne and Onondaga Community College already have this in place. This new voting rule in New York would also prevent college campuses from being divided into multiple voting districts. In future years, districts will need to be adjusted to include as much of a college campus in one district as possible.

“You can only have 2,000 voters in an election district, so a very large college campus like Syracuse University for example may still have to have more than one district, but they’re all going to vote at the same polling place," said Dustin Czarny, Democratic Onondaga County elections commissioner.

These changes applying of course to people who have registered with their college town address. There are more potential changes that could be made in future years with state approval. Czarny spoke of several options for ways voting could be even more accessible.

“There may be early mobile voting spots where you’re there for a weekend or something like that. These are the kind of tools that could help boards of elections help students vote. If the legislature passes it," said Czarny.

State voting rules allow college students to register in their college town. Adding more voting locations will make it easier to vote, for a demographic that has transportation challenges. People age 18 to 25 often have the lowest voter turnout, per the board of elections.

Some college students don’t choose to register in their college town but opt for absentee instead. This year, if you choose to vote absentee, you can’t change your mind last minute and vote in person, as was the case in years past.

There are other recent changes to voting like early voting which can help people get to the polls in time. The Board of Elections also said you can vote with a pandemic absentee ballot once again this year. Absentee ballot counting will begin before Election Day, allowing for quicker election results.

However, that does mean if you request an absentee ballot, that is the method you must use to vote. Next year, automatic voter registration and online registration will begin, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections.