ORANGEBURG, S.C. — For college students and first-time voters like Emersen Frazier and Carla Gonzalez, voting in the presidential election is something most young voters look forward to experience.
"I never got my absentee ballot," said Carla Gonzalez.
"If been looking forward to doing this, essentially my entire life," said Emersen Frazier.
Both are out of state students, and they say there were major obstacles when trying to vote by mail.
"I called my elections office, and they told me they sent it to my home address in Georgia," said Gonzalez. "When I contacted my family, they said it wasn't there."
After checking with their state's election office and Claflin's campus mailing service, they finally received their absentee ballots just in time before election day. But both students had to overnight their ballot, which cost them $26 to make sure their vote was counted.
"As an out-of-state student, I struggle to have to afford plane tickets two to three plane times that could cost $300 a semester," said Frazier. "On top of that, having to be independent in a new state."
We took Emerson and Carla's problem to Orangeburg County Voter Registration. The director, Aurora Smalls, says that voters from other counties who live in Orangeburg are trying to vote in Orangeburg County.
"Voters need to know if you move to be county to another, they must register in their county," said Aurora Smalls. "It's not an automatic process. You have to register."
Smalls says all voters should check their voter registration status by the end of the week rather than waiting until election day.
Emersen and Carla hope their experience doesn't bar other college students from participating in this year's election. They are pushing for better communication between the election and postal offices.
"I think that's important! Also, maybe providing tracking information to make sure you always know where your ballot is," said Gonzalez.