Even before school officially began, students were stopped in their path by individuals with clipboards and inquiring faces, as they asked the passers-by the popular question: “Are you registered to vote?”
Students who are still saying “no” don’t have much time to change their status. Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote for those who have not registered in Oregon before.
Although college students have been notorious for their small contribution to the voting population in the past, members of the ASUO legislative team said they hope to change this pattern, and make students aware that their voices won’t be heard unless they vote.
“I think the Legislatures won’t pay attention to our issues unless we get out and vote,” said Melissa Unger, ASUO legislative organizer. “Seven ballot measures specifically affect the way the University is funded, and we want students to vote on those. We don’t want to let other people decide students’ futures.”
Kevin Iervolino, a senior sociology major and registered voter, added that students who don’t vote shouldn’t be surprised if candidates and legislators don’t pay much attention to student issues in the elections.
“People complain that the candidates don’t address our issues,” he said. “But they don’t have the right to complain if they’re not voting, because they aren’t swaying the election.”
For the past few weeks, the legislative team has been reaching out to students by visiting student-populated areas such as the University Commons, greek houses, residence halls, and the west University neighborhood. The ASUO has also talked to representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records, and is planning to set the record for the world’s largest ballot box to draw students to vote. The box, which will be built by the Carpenter’s Union, will be 21 feet tall with a 7- to 8-foot base.
On Friday, the University had about 4,700 registered voters, making it first in the nation in terms of total number of students registered to vote. State Affairs Coordinator Brian Tanner said this year’s campaign has been one of the most successful ones in recent history.
This year, the Oregon election will be held exclusively by mail. Students who are already registered in Oregon can update their address and other information up to election day, but Tanner said students should make their changes by Tuesday as well. Tanner said students may not receive ballots in time to vote if they wait too long to change their information.
For the next three weeks, the legislative team will focus its efforts on educating voters, and will give presentations about seven ballot measures — 7, 8, 9, 88, 91, 93 and 98 — which deal with financial funding and directly impact students. Tanner said that although many of the election issues don’t seem to apply to students now, they will be important in the long run.
“Since we’re usually the youngest, we have to live with the election results the longest,” Tanner said. “Right now people over the age of 60 with a high school education are more likely to vote than a college student. But at some point, our generation will be running the country, and by the time we get there we don’t want to have our hands tied by previous generations … We want candidates to realize that our needs need to be addressed for the future because we are the future.”