They have attacked from all angles, hitting students in classrooms, on the street, and through text messages. Their goal: to register 10,000 students to vote.
With only 11 days remaining until deadline, the ASUO voter registration drive is nearly 8,000 votes shy of the benchmark. Despite the daunting task ahead of them, students and volunteers involved with the effort don’t seem discouraged; they are focusing more on the meaning and less on the numbers.
But if the drive is to even live up to previous years, it’s got a hill to climb. In 2006, the drive registered nearly 7,000 voters.
Jesse Hough, director of the Survival Center and contributor to the voting drive through OSPIRG, has kept an optimistic attitude about the upcoming weeks.
“It’s going to be tough, but we don’t plan for failure,” said Hough. “This is the most historic election of our lifetime and I think students know it”
OSPIRG’s approach has been three pronged: street teams approaching students face-to-face, a grassroots text message campaign and a Facebook application designed to encourage students to vote online.
And they’re not alone: OSPIRG is gathering votes alongside the Oregon Student Association, the ASUO Executive, and Building Votes. The collection of groups is known as the Student Vote Coalition.
Last year, ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz said the voter registration drive didn’t need OSA’s help to register 10,000 voters, but OSA, which usually assists in the effort, has provided two coordinators to help with the drive anyway.
Vote where it counts
If you’re an out-of-state student, you can choose whether you want to vote in Oregon or in your home state by an absentee ballot. Your vote could carry more weight depending on the state. To determine where you should vote, check out www.countmore.org.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 250 students had registered online. The grassroots texting campaign works similarly to chain mail: Text the phrase ‘student vote’ to the number 41411 and you’ll get information on how to vote, along with the suggestion to pass the number on to 10 other students.
“Texting is something our generation is really good at,” said Hough, laughing.
The Student Vote Coalition is a collaborative effort designed to get all the groups working together toward the same goal and many people, students and others, have jumped on board to help.
Max McNally is one of two OSA vote coordinators the student lobbying organization has provided to help the drive. McNally actually postponed his enrollment at the University in order to participate on behalf of OSA.
“We’re here to accommodate any needs,” McNally said. “We do everything.”
Though the numbers don’t favor the SVC hitting its 10,000 vote goal, those involved believe in the message and are committed to getting as many students registered as possible.
“It’s been an enormous challenge,” said ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz. “We’ve had to restructure part of our plan.”
According to Dotters-Katz, the class raps – volunteers speaking in classrooms about the voter registration drive – have shifted the discussion from campaign issues to issues affecting students. The shift in tactics resulted in a much better response.
José Bustillos, lead coordinator for the voter registration drive, said they had their largest classroom response yet when 16 students from one class registered to vote.
“When students are able to frame the issues for themselves they really get involved,” said Bustillos.
Their optimism was reinforced by Kim Hedman, a freshman who expressed interest in volunteering. “I want to be involved – voting is important,” she said. “You’re given the opportunity to make your opinion heard.”
Hedman heard about the opportunity in her freshman seminar, Leadership in the 21st Century, which is taught by University President Dave Frohnmayer.
The final component of the SVC, Building Votes, is the non-partisan youth voter registration wing of the Oregon Bus Project, and is on campus to help the SVC get as many voters registered as possible.
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