LYNCHBURG, Va. – Tuesday’s mid-term election has the nation’s attention.
"This more than any other midterm that I’ve seen in recent years is being driven by what’s happening out of Washington, what’s happening at the national level,” Ronald Miller, interim dean School of Government for Liberty University, said.
And in Southwest Virginia, the campaigns have plastered signs across the region, hoping to convince the undecided.
“A lot of times people may not know what they’re going to do until they walk into the voting booth. And so campaigns are really interested in reaching out to people to make sure that it doesn’t turn into an indecision and a decision to just stay home,” Miller said.
Miller said that all day Monday, campaign organizers will keep making last-minute calls to registered voters.
“This weekend, even in my home we got some phone calls. So I think that’s going to start up right away and it’s going to intensify as time rolls on,” Miller said.
Liberty University is allowing candidates to use another method.
Students are receiving emails from Senate Republican candidate, Corey Stewart, whose campaign paid the school last year for information to contact its students.
The university told us in a statement: “Prior to 2018, Liberty University provided email addresses and mailing addresses at a set rate when a political campaign requested them. This rate was consistently charged to all campaigns on an equal basis, without regard to political party, campaign platform or public office sought.”
The school adds, “Address information was provided in November of 2017 by Liberty University in response to a request from Corey Stewart for Senate, Inc., for the primary election following this standard protocol. Since the Corey Stewart for Senate campaign used the same list in 2018 for an additional mailing for the general election, they paid Liberty University again for the same list that they were already in possession of.”
And moving forward, the university says, they’ll continue to comply with state laws, including one that allows schools to give out student information.
Both the University of Lynchburg and Randolph College, also private institutions, tell 10 News they do not sell their students' contact lists to political candidates.