More than 100 students gathered in Del Norte Hall Thursday night to hear a panel discussion organized by Sacramento State’s Hornet Debate Team intended to demystify the voter registration process and show students how to educate themselves on ballot measures.

Jared Anderson, coach of the Hornet Debate Team, has been organizing campus forums like Thursday’s every semester since he came to Sac State four years ago.

“I wanted to make sure that we are active on campus and sharing debate with the student body,” Anderson said.  “With the election coming up in 27 days, I really wanted to do something about voter education.”

Anderson said that the main person responsible for organizing Thursday’s forum was Kiersten Brockman, a graduate student in communication studies who has acted as director of public forums this semester.

Brockman also said that historically what drives students to their forums is the promise of extra credit from their professors. This year, instead of signing in, some TA’s told their students to take a selfie with Adam Austin, assistant debate team coach, to prove their attendance at the event.

The panelists took turns answering questions from Brockman on topics including the logistics of registering to vote, how the electoral college works and how they thought voter turnout could be increased.

On the subject of voter turnout, Moon told students to be brave, and that they shouldn’t feel pressured to vote on every single ballot measure.

“This is not a test,” Moon said.  “If you don’t feel like you know enough about it, don’t vote on it. … They’re not going to throw (your vote) out because each and every race and each and every measure is missing something.”

In Sacramento, Ditty said, the voter registration rate is 11 percent for people aged 18-25.

Although voter turnout is always higher every four years during presidential elections, Schwab said the most important elections to participate in are local ones.

“They’re not voting for the offices that affect them the most,” Schwab said. “Those are the ones that are going to determine the quality of your life on a day-to-day basis.”

All three panelists encouraged the students present to educate themselves before the Nov. 8 election, and to make sure to register to vote by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 24.

The panelists said students can go to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s website or votersedge.org for more information on ballot measures and voter registration.

“You are not alone in this world,” Moon said. “If it doesn’t affect you directly, it affects someone very close to you. That’s how voting impacts you.”