The voter registration deadline is today, but that isn’t stopping Amy DuFour and everyone else from the Student Vote Coalition from reaching their goal of registering 7,500 voters.
DuFour, the ASUO’s State Affairs Coordinator, is a sophomore pre-journalism and planning, public policy and management major. She said she began her work with voter registration last year when she worked as an intern for the ASUO.
“It’s important that students’ voices are heard,” DuFour said. “It’s important that we tell legislatures our concerns so they work on the issues that affect us as students.”
The recent campaign to register voters began last January and DuFour has been in charge of the effort since she was hired last May.
She said many students are very excited about the election.
“There’s definitely a buzz around campus,” DuFour said.
DuFour said it hasn’t always been easy to get students to register to vote.
“We feel like our voices aren’t heard, and being students we move a lot, making it hard to remember to re-register every time,” she said.
Many people agree that DuFour is highly involved in campus activities because it’s something that comes naturally to her.
“She’s fun, friendly and very determined,” said Christina Swartz, a senior international studies and political science major. “If she says she’s going to do something, she’ll do it.”
Swartz and DuFour are co-campaign coordinators for the Student Vote Coalition, which consists of the ASUO, New Voters Project, OSPIRG, Oregon Student Association and the United States Student Association.
As of Sunday, the Coalition had registered 6,060 people, and last week it beat the campus record, DuFour said. She estimated that she has personally registered more than 300 students.
DuFour said she is confident the group will meet its registration goal by today’s deadline.
“The deadline is at 4 p.m., and we’ll definitely meet it,” DuFour said.
In the 2000 presidential election, only 30 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 24 voted, DuFour said.
DuFour added that it is important to register at one’s current address.
“We live here nine months out of the year, and there are issues that affect us here in Eugene,” DuFour said. “For example, Eugene is the largest city on the West Coast without housing standards. Most of us are renters and we don’t have the resources to take our landlords to court.”
DuFour, a Long Beach, Calif., native, attended a small Catholic high school where she participated in student government, Christian Service Leaders, and played volleyball, basketball, softball and swimming.
In addition to organizing the voter registration campaign on behalf of the ASUO, she is a member of Alpha Chi Omega and participates in intramural sports at the University.
“It cuts down on my sleep, but my priority is getting an education both in and out of class,” DuFour said.
Following the registration campaign, DuFour and the Coalition are hoping to keep working to inform voters. In addition, the group will give class presentations, as well as presentations to student organizations, Greek houses and sports teams with information on specific issues and candidates.
Unregistered students have until 4 p.m. today to find DuFour or another volunteer wearing a green T-shirt to register to vote.

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