KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Early voting is well underway across Michigan with nearly a week left to go before Election Day. Thousands of voters have taken advantage of the option, including college students.

This is Michigan’s first general election to have nine days of early voting. In Kalamazoo County, four polling locations are giving people the chance to submit their ballot ahead of Nov. 5.

One of those is the Fetzer Center on Western Michigan University’s campus, where students told News 8 that issues from education to reproductive health care drove them out to the polls.

Jada Rhodman, a first-year Western Michigan University student with dreams of joining the health care field, said she made a plan to vote early with friends. Rhodman said some friends are opting to sit this election out, something she has tried to change.

“Yes, it’s your decision but I did try to heavy influence it, not to vote who I am voting for but vote because that person speaks to you,” said WMU freshman Jada Rhodman.

In 2020, only about 864,000 ballots were cast by voters 18 to 29 years old, according to a report this summer by the Michigan Sectary of State. That’s compared to the 1.4 million registered voters of the same age group.

Changes to state law making it easier to register to vote have eased that hurdle for students, said Jeff Breneman, the vice president of Government Relations at Western Michigan University.

Nonpartisan campus initiatives like WeVote are focusing on making sure students who are registered have a plan to make their voice heard.

“I think we often forget that this is often the first election that many of our students are ever having the opportunity to vote. We now get that opportunity to help them understand it, make it less complicated, make it less scary. … They decided who to vote for, we can just give them the information on how to vote,” said Jeff Breneman vice president of government relations at WMU.

Students have been lending a hand in that effort, like Isaac Patton, who says he’s a vote captain for a group focused on education policy back home in Detroit. He said sometimes young people need to be reminded how their vote now matters for years to come.

“We’re the next adults. The next four to eight years relies solely on us and that’s from our ages from 22 to 26, that’s our lives,” Patton said.

Freshman Jett Boettcher said the campus community is up for that challenge. 

“WMU is a very politically-active campus and a lot of my friends are very excited to vote in this election because it’s so important. There’s a very hefty importance placed on this election due to the candidates in it. And so this is also the first year we’re voting as well and so there’s a lot of talk on the upcoming election, the issues, the candidates and what we are expecting to see,” Boettcher said. 

The Kalamazoo County clerk said voter turnout this weekend was nearly triple the amount compared to the nine days of early voting during the August primary. As of Monday afternoon, More than 6,000 voters have cast their ballot early in the county.