MTSU’s Raider Xpress will be rolling down East Main Street this Election Day, providing free shuttle bus rides to and from the polls for university voters.

The university is expanding its Green Route from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, to help MTSU students, faculty and staff cast their ballots at Central Magnet School at 701 E. Main St., seven blocks from campus.

Voters can catch a Raider Xpress shuttle bus anywhere along its Green Route and ride it to Central Magnet to vote, then hop back on at the temporary East Main stop to return to campus.

This map of MTSU and a small area east of campus shows the route of a free Election Day 2020 shuttle for voters. Raider Xpress buses on the Green Route will take MTSU voters from the university to Central Magnet School to vote from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3. Click on the map for a closer look.

A special Election Day shuttle stop also will be set up for the day in front of MTSU’s James Union Building on Old Main Circle for campus voters. Those who use the MTSU Mobile app, available here, can follow the Green Route shuttle’s arrivals and departures in real time Nov. 3.

“The American Democracy Project surely thanks Assistant Vice President (for Events and Transportation) Ron Malone for setting up this Election Day transportation system for our students,” said Dr. Mary Evins, coordinator for the national civic education network’s MTSU chapter and a research professor in the Department of History and in the University Honors College.

Dr. Mary A. Evins

“We want MTSU’s engagement in this election to break and exceed every MTSU voter participation record to date! So please take advantage of this easy way to get to the polls.

“Remember that in Rutherford County we have ‘convenience voting.’ If you’re registered to vote in Rutherford County — no matter in what precinct — you can vote wherever is easiest. Hop on the Green Line to Central Magnet.”

Registered Rutherford County residents can vote in person on election days at any one of 28 polling sites countywide. Polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 3.

Tennessee law mandates that voters who are still in line at 7 p.m. on an election day will be allowed to cast their ballots.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3, when the Green Route bus ends its MTSU circuit for the day, a special late-afternoon Election Day shuttle will pick up and drop off campus voters in front of MTSU’s James Union Building.

Evins said that service will provide a dedicated shuttle for voters to ride from the JUB to Central and back to the JUB until the voting lines end that evening.

MTSU Parking and Transportation Services, which Malone oversees, has provided similar rides to the polls in past election years to encourage campus voter turnout, accommodate voters with disabilities and give voters an alternative to walking round-trip in inclement weather or adding to traffic congestion.

Local forecasts predict perfect voting weather on Election Day — sunny skies and high temperatures in the low 60s.

Two more Rutherford County polling places are located less than a mile from the MTSU campus: Hobgood Elementary School at 307 S. Baird Lane and North Boulevard Church of Christ at 1112 N. Rutherford Blvd. Like the Central Magnet site, they are accessible to voters with disabilities.

Voters should bring a state or federal government-issued photo ID to cast their ballot Nov. 3.

Student IDs aren’t accepted as voting IDs in Tennessee. A list of acceptable voting IDs is available here at the Rutherford County Election Commission website.

For more information about the American Democracy Project at MTSU, email amerdem@mtsu.edu or visit www.mtsu.edu/amerdem. For information on voting in Tennessee, visit www.mtsu.edu/vote or https://GoVoteTN.com.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)

First-time voter Zarria Mabone of Memphis, a freshman majoring in psychology at MTSU, prepares to board a Raider Xpress shuttle bus to take her to Central Magnet School to cast her ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The university used its Green Line shuttle route to carry campus voters round trip down East Main on Election Day to help voter turnout. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)