Voter registration
drives organized by the Student Government Association (SGA) and
other student organizations registered around 750 students to vote
in the upcoming Nov. 5 elections.
SGA, the College Democrats, College Republicans and some members
of Students Actively Volunteering for the Environment [S.A.V.E.]
organized efforts across campus to register students to vote in
Watauga County before the Oct. 11 deadline.
According to statistics released by the Watauga County Board of
Elections, approximately 600 students were registered to vote in
Watauga County with on-campus addresses prior to the drives. While
that statistic does not include off-campus students, the increased
registrations at the drives are still a significant rise.
“Students traditionally have not turned out in large numbers
for local elections.
I was disturbed by the 600 number that was coming out of the board
of elections,” said SGA President Ryan M. Eller. “So I
asked Chad Oakley to carry out an extensive voter registration drive
this year.”
“I think the targeting efforts of going after
people who live on campus, that’s the effective way to do it,”
said Chad Oakley, director of State and National Affairs. “You
have a large number of people in a small area. You reach more people
with things like fliers and RSA [Resident Student Association].”
The “ASU Votes” drive, organized by
SGA, registered more than 150 students in three days at contact
tables in Plemmons Student Union and Sanford Mall.
Oakley said SGA also served to encourage communication between the
various organizations’ registration efforts.
Some attributed the increase to the diverse nature of the organizations
involved and their communication, as well as increased interest
due to the U.S. Senate race between Elizabeth Dole and Erskine Bowles.
“Maybe the drives this year are more organized and larger;
I think it’s more that so many different organizations want
to get involved,” said Nicole Hawkins, president of the College
Democrats. “I don’t think any single drive was exceptionally
enormous; it’s more that everybody coordinated their efforts
with one organization or another.”
“I worked very closely with Oakley. We had
people sitting at [SGA’s] tables that were with our organization,
some of his people were at our tables,” Hawkins said.
The College Democrats were involved with the “Rock the Vote”
rally on Oct. 9 at Duck Pond Field, where, Hawkins said, nearly
300 students registered to vote.
The group was also involved in efforts to go to clubs and residence
halls to get people registered. Residence hall drives registered
150 students.
“People from S.A.V.E. and some of our members [went to clubs],”
Hawkins said. “Right down to the wire I was going to six, seven
meetings a week trying to get people to understand the importance
of registering to vote in Watauga.”
“Hopefully students understand how important
this midterm election is,” Hawkins said. “Which candidates
get in office will swing the future of this county.”
“It should’ve been proven by the budget
cuts and tuition increases that who we elect to our state and local
offices is important,” Eller said. “I think this is a
vital time for students to get out and vote.”
Under “No-excuses” voting, those registered
can currently vote at the Board of Elections behind the Watauga
County Court House.
Despite repeated attempts, the College Republicans could not be
contacted at press time. |
