Clearly, SU is far from united. Unfortunately, the 13-person slate is likely to exacerbate this division.

As a student body, we should not be complacent — we should instead strive to increase voter turnout to make SU more representative of the student body and its beliefs.

At 7:30 p.m. on election night, the WashU College Republicans met in a modern off-campus apartment on Washington Avenue to prepare for a night that would test their hopes and principles. About 20 students were there, creating a lively scene filled with chatter, laughter, and the familiar smell of pizza. Some sat cross-legged in front of a flat-screen TV tuned into the Red Eagle Politics YouTube livestream; others stood around the kitchen island, alternately chatting and refreshing the New York Times election page on their laptops. The mood was buoyant, with food, drinks, and bursts of humor punctuating the tense watch.

Seven minutes past 7 p.m., a gaggle of students sporting “I Voted” stickers and camouflage print “Harris-Waltz” hats milled around Seigle 103, waiting for the WashU College Democrats election night watch party to commence. The nervous energy radiating off the group was palpable, cut briefly as WashU Democrats’ President, senior Saish Satyal, pushed through the crowd with a plentiful bounty of Domino’s pizza boxes stacked high in his arms. The watchers expected a night of community, come commiseration or celebration.

As college students, we need to understand and talk about how abortion bans affect us and our close communities. As human beings, we need to understand, discuss, and feel outraged about abortion bans for what they are — a public-health crisis.

One vote matters to every individual who looks at the election numbers and realizes they’re not alone: not alone in their desire for change, their desire to not be ashamed, to not be fearful.

No election you are eligible to vote in is too small or too unimportant.

If you’re a Democrat, like I am, you might wonder, what’s the point of voting here, dropping a speck of blue into a sea of red? If this is a factor you find yourself considering, do not let a sense of powerlessness deter you from voting in Missouri, for there are key issues where your vote really can influence change.

This country was built on the principle of “no taxation without representation.” And yet, contributing members of our society have continually been denied proper representation.

Those who voted at Sumers Recreation Center on Tuesday would say the “Party at the Polls” was anything but. While a cappella groups performed and pizza was provided for voters, lines were long as students sat and worked on staircases, some for upwards of three hours.