Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury in a speech Thursday at the EMU Amphitheater urged students to register to vote, signaling the start of ASUO’s voter registration campaign.
“The reason I’m here today is because I think it’s critically important for students to register and critically important to vote,” Bradbury said.
Bradbury told students that few young people were participating in elections and that the median age of a voter is older than 40.
Bradbury said 24 out of 100 Oregonians voted in the 2002 primary elections, adding that only 12 of those 24 were younger than 60 years of age.
“If you want candidates to care about your issues, you’ve got to vote,” Bradbury said.
The secretary of state said he was concerned with the condition of higher education in Oregon, citing the loss of funding for schools in the 2003-2005 state budget.
“It’s bad for education right now, but it could be much worse,” Bradbury said, referring to the potential special election regarding the Oregon Legislature’s $800 million tax package. If tax-hike opponents collect 50,420 signatures by Nov. 25, voters will decide in a special Feb. 3 election whether to implement the tax package.
Bradbury closed his speech by reminding students to register to vote and encourage their peers to do the same.
“You have a chance each election to affect the issues that can change your life,” Bradbury said.
After his speech, Bradbury helped register students to vote at the ASUO Fall Street Faire and held a “meet and greet” session at the ASUO office.

— Sho Ikeda