Black Hills State University Student Senate hosted the National Voter Registration Week during Swarm Days Sept. 24 to 28 in the Student Union.

The Student Senate provided BHSU students with voter registration forms to be filled out and mailed during the event.

Rotaract Club President Wyatt Osthus explained that all students had to do was take a couple minutes to fill out the form and, in a couple of weeks, they would get a note in the mail confirming their registration.

According to the National Study of Learning Voting and Engagement, 62.8 percent of BHSU students were registered to vote in the 2016 election cycle. The 2016 percentage was down by almost 2 percent compared to the 2014 election cycle.

President of the BHSU College Democrats Kaitlyn Huska stated that many students don’t register to vote because they don’t realize that they can register where they go to college

Huska also explained that education is the key for getting students to register and participate in election days. In order to better educate BHSU students, Student Senate members provided booths for voter registration and supplied students with unbiased information about the candidates who were running.

Students interested in more information may check out the voter registration and absentee ballot drop off locations around campus, which were provided by the Student Senate, the College Democrats and the College Republicans.