National politics often feel synonymous with chaos — the federal government has been shut down for a month now, and the president has continued to deploy National Guard troops to American cities. As worrying as things are, matters of local government remain places for optimism. The president has no direct say in how local public schools are run, when our roads will get plowed this winter or whether the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority keeps running. It is our state and local politicians, often cloaked by obscurity, who shape many of the most formative aspects of our daily lives. Brown students, as eligible R.I. voters, will have the opportunity to choose who will wield this power in the Providence City Council Ward 2 Special Election on Tuesday. We are responsible for making our voices heard.
Rhode Island is home to over 60,000 college students who make up over 5% of the state population. Despite our influence, students often face barriers to voting. In 2022, only about 40% of registered college students ended up making it to the ballot box, and this is especially true in off-year local elections. In the age of the internet, there is no good reason for being uninformed. A quick Google search will tell you all you need to know about a given set of candidates and their distinct policy objectives. Thankfully, the process of learning about your local politicians is a little less stressful than evaluating national candidates who will make more consequential decisions such as those of war and peace. If you integrate local news into your daily routine, you will be more invested in the outcomes of local elections and motivated to vote with an educated opinion.
The Herald’s Spring 2025 Poll found that less than two-thirds of Brown students knew the name of Rhode Island's governor, Gov. Dan McKee. There is no excuse for ignorance, especially at Brown, when organizations like Brown Votes help students participate in the democratic process and even provide email reminders of upcoming elections. Candidates for Tuesday’s special election discussed their views right here on campus in a candidate forum.
The issues at play in this special election seem especially dear to Brown students’ hearts — education and climate policy are on the table, as are housing policy and affordability. We can take this energy to the ballot box and vote for a candidate who shares this same drive. Moreover, the City Council acts as a check on mayoral power, impacting our lives in even more extensive ways than we might assume. Recently, its Committee on Ordinances recommended a proposal for stronger immigration protections for residents, including prohibiting some kinds of Providence Police Department cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and making city-run preschools and daycares protected spaces. The policy directives initiated by the City Council just below College Hill are the very same issues that invigorate so many Brown students on campus. Rather than containing our intellectual debates to the classroom, we should use our unique opportunity to contribute to local politics.
Yet, these contributions require organization. Leaving voting to the last minute can result in unforeseen difficulties such as a mail-in ballot request being denied because of signature discrepancies or the ballot arriving too late. It is important to keep up with the timeline of your civic duties to avoid any administrative burdens. Some states, like New York and New Mexico, stop accepting online and mailed requests for absentee ballots two weeks before Election Day.
If you are a registered Rhode Island voter, all it takes is a walk to Brown-RISD Hillel to vote in the Providence City Council Ward 2 Special Primary Election on Tuesday. If you prefer to vote by mail, or are voting in out-of-state elections, you can make your way to Page-Robinson Hall to mail your ballot for free. Your ballot just needs to be postmarked on or by election day. Finally, if you forgot to register or request a mail-in ballot, you can check the deadlines for your locality and plan accordingly for the next election. The Ward 2 Special General Election will be held on Dec. 2, and students can once again vote at Hillel.
Local elections are a rare opportunity to reshape our home — or home away from home. Generations of Americans, the shoulders upon which we stand, led the fight to build and expand our democracy at every level. Now their baton sits in our hands; do we choose to sit out, when history tells us our power only exists when we get up and use it? I hope not.
Arya Vishwakarma ’29 can be reached at arya_vishwakarma@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
