The lights in the room are dim, except for a desk lamp that's been turned upward to shine on the subject seated at the table for dramatic effect. Two students sporting trench coats and stars-and-stripes fedoras loom over the table while another undergoes interrogation from a chair.
The subject at the table is being questioned — not for a crime, but a serious offense in the eyes of the students posing as detectives: abstaining from voting.
The scene was filmed for a short film project by the Democracy Fellows, a nonpartisan cohort of four students who encourage Tri-C students, faculty and staff to vote.
'On the Case for Democracy'
The students create a legacy project to encourage and educate their peers on voting. Past years' fellows have used artwork and video skits, and a voting anthem and dance called "Rock the Polls" with gospel rapper Corey Bapes.
This year's group decided on film as a medium in the hope of bringing a lighter side to the issue, said Democracy Fellow Sylvia Snow-Rackley — “to make voting seem a little less intimidating, to have a little fun."
Snow-Rackley added: "I think fun is something that we so often miss from our activism, and it's something that really drives people away because it seems intimidating and kind of depressing.”
The cohort created and acted in "On the Case for Democracy," a short film noir parody about the search for a missing vote. The message is that one vote can make a difference in an election. The finished film, shot and produced by the college's video production team, premiered Oct. 29, which was National Vote Early Day. The film is also available for viewing on the college's YouTube channel.
Civic engagement based on experiences
Snow-Rackley, a 22-year-old urban planning student, said applying to be a Democracy Fellow seemed like a good way to get involved on campus, where people may shy away from political conversations.
"I think we're at a time in America where there's a lot of understandable apathy and distrust in the system. So this is about working to communicate with people, and really regain that trust, especially as we're becoming more polarized," she said.
Allison Price, a 25-year-old biology student, became a Democracy Fellow because she noticed her peers seemed uninformed about elections. She, too, felt uninformed growing up in rural Wayne County, where she said she was never taught the importance of voting.
"I went to vocational school along with my high school. Not once was it really talked about, but I come up here and everyone's spreading the word. You just don't see that down there," she said.
That's why Price said she's always willing to chat about the voting process or how elections work. She doesn't discuss political parties or try to sway any potential voters in one direction.
She said she likes to emphasize the importance of voting on down-ballot issues and smaller local elections, where every vote "counts" proportionately more.
"I throw a lot at them when I talk to them," Price said with a laugh. "I tell them it really is important to look into who you're voting for. Don't just listen to your friends. You have to be the one to do it."
The outcomes of those hyperlocal issues matter, even to people who can't vote.
That's a message important to Democracy Fellows Emmanuel Ahmadu and Oluwasegun Ogunlade, who are students from Nigeria. They can't legally vote in U.S. elections, but they're the first to tell others to do so.
For example, Ogunlade, 37, pointed to Issue 5, Tri-C’s levy renewal that Cuyahoga County voters passed last November, which affects tuition costs.
"Votes of every individual also impact me as an international student in terms of education, health care, everything. Even though I can't vote, I have to encourage my peers," he said.
Ogunlade said he usually starts conversations with peers by asking whether they're registered to vote.
"And then, why not? Because your vote is very important to you and is important to me," he said.
Ahmadu, 34, likes to share a story of the obstacles he experienced as a voter amid election interference in Nigeria to explain why Americans should register to vote. He said he was once turned away from voting at the polls, where people said they already voted on his behalf.
"They were sending people back home, and I was like, 'Why?' So it's kind of a different scenario here, it's a different experience here," he said.
Stories like Ahamdu's are examples of why American voters shouldn’t take their voting rights for granted, said Katie Montgomery, Tri-C's director of government relations who runs the Democracy Fellow program.
“One of the questions to ask to their American counterparts — do you know how it feels to me when you don't vote because I'm depending on you to be my voice in this country," Montgomery said.
Young voting numbers down in Ohio
A recent report shows an increase in young voter registration rates since July, though most states are lagging in registering young voters compared with the November 2020 election, according to a report from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. The number of registered voters aged 18 to 29 in Ohio is down 10% compared to 2020.
To reverse those trends, Montgomery said the Democracy Fellows take the following pledge:
“I don't care how you vote, I care that you vote and that you know how," she said.
Montgomery said voter education is missing from Ohio's K-12 education system.
"I think voting's an equity point in America," she said. "Whether you learn to vote or not can be a divergent point. You might be left behind and left silent the rest of your life if you're not taught to vote. I think it's that powerful."
The Democracy Fellows program is part of the college's The Voting Experience initiative, which partners with the Fair Election Center's Campus Vote Project to encourage student voter engagement.
