American Society: Elections Officer

Dear members of the American Society,

My name is Angelica, and I am a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics student from Boston, Massachusetts. I’m excited to be running for Welfare and Elections Officer!

Over the past year, I’ve worked alongside our president, Roy Shu, to help revive the UCL American Society. While UCL has a large American and internationally interested community, there has not always been a dedicated space for people to come together to discuss current affairs from different perspectives, connect over shared interests in American culture and politics, or simply meet fellow students.

I would love the opportunity to continue contributing to the society’s growth as Elections Officer. My goal is to help create an open, welcoming, and engaging environment through events that support members’ social lives and interests, whether political, cultural, or community-focused.

I’m excited by the possibility of working with both the committee and society members to help build a fun and inclusive space at UCL. Whether as your Elections Officer or simply as an active member of the society, I look forward to getting to know more of you.

Thank you so much for your consideration — I would really appreciate your vote!

~ Angelica :)

Fellow members,

Voter apathy is already concerning enough in some cases within the borders of the US, especially when it comes to the more niche local or state elections. Yet, abroad (in the UK), there are so many more discouragements from voting in US elections, with confusing procedures, late deliveries, and (a frequent) need to separately provide envelopes and paper all conspiring to have US citizens/nationals abroad wonder whether their vote will even be counted.

As someone registered to vote absentee, I have faced some of these issues and more. Combined with my characteristic loquaciousness, patience in dealing with paperwork, and tendency to respond to messages even during odd hours of the day, I therefore have the mindset and persistence to get as many of our eligible members as possible to vote in US elections.

With the congressional midterms coming next academic year, I also aim to inform campus discourse by transforming its surface-level spectacle into awareness of how people actually discuss and choose who to vote for.

When people are too busy for other forms of advocacy or feel constrained about what they can publicly say, voting is their main concrete action out of actions that go beyond merely carping about some current situation. Let’s show the world our way of loving our US, where we stay deeply engaged with issues from our local areas in the US by voting from thousands of miles away!

(I am taking questions on WhatsApp, as usual)