Maysa Sitar
Michigan State University
Queen's University Belfast (QUB)
Foreign Affairs
Maysa Sitar is a senior at Michigan State University where she studies Political Science. She became interested in voting at an early age while growing up in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As a sophomore, she petitioned her principal to offer the PSAT, which was not previously offered. As the MSU student body Vice President for Governmental Affairs, she has hosted on-campus debates for local elections, doubled dorm voter registration efforts, and create easy to read, nonpartisan guides for every election. MSU saw a 21 percent increase in the turnout rate for the 2018 midterm elections. Maysa also serves on the task force she advised Michigan's Secretary of State to create to focus on voting challenges by college-aged youth in Michigan. She serves as the first college student on the board of directors for East Lansing's local newspaper and is a representative on MSU's Police Oversight Committee. She interned with a local gubernatorial candidate in 2018 and most recently worked for the DC office of Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Maysa is currently conducting independent research to examine the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on electoral manipulation in countries with regularly scheduled elections during 2020. Maysa will study Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast.