At 17, Morgan Taylor had to miss a day of high school to be at the polls at 5 a.m. and prepare for voters. The election judge got credit in her AP government class for serving, but she got a lot more than that.
Morgan’s interest in politics moved her to change her major from computer science to political science at Illinois State University. But what also helped was a sidewalk-chalked message she walked over as a freshman. It was an invitation to a meeting with the College Democrats at Illinois State University. She joined, and two years later, is serving as president. She also became involved in the Student Government Association (SGA), participating in the Emerging Leaders Program, and was elected vice president of the SGA’s Assembly.
Being active in democracy runs in the family. Morgan’s mother, Jean-Marie Taylor, M.S. ’98, serves as a McLean County election judge alongside her daughter. She started taking her daughter to the polls with her when she was an infant. In high school they voted together, even if that meant getting there at 6 a.m. because of Morgan’s school schedule.
“I didn’t grow up in countries where necessarily you could do that, participate in democracy,” Jean-Marie said. The business professor at Heartland Community College lived in Panama and Spain when it was under Francisco Franco’s authoritarian rule. “Lots of people didn’t have a voice in their government,” she said. “I think we forget that. We take it for granted, and we need to not do that.”
In high school, Morgan participated in rallies and signed up for government classes. “I’ve always been interested in politics, even when I thought that wasn’t what I was going to study,” she said. Because of her computer skills, she was promoted to a technical support role for elections.
She and her mom will work together at the Bone Student Center polling location November 8. Her mom prefers the Bone location because she’s more likely to encounter first-time voters.
“I like working with students who may be uncomfortable voting for the first time,” she said. “I want to help ease that for them.”
Working with mom has another benefit, Morgan said. She doesn’t have to pack a lunch, or bring anything else for the 14-hour day, “not even my wallet,” she said, laughing.
Not only is Morgan involved in advocating for student voices on campus through her leadership in student government, she is managing her boyfriend’s campaign for a seat on the McLean County Board. Although she hasn’t ruled out being on a ballot someday, working behind the scenes is where she’d like to be when she graduates. And she has a candidate in mind.
“I want to work on Gov. Pritzker’s campaign for presidency,” she said.
The Center for Civic Engagement’s Voters’ Guide has everything you need to know about voting.
