College-aged voter turnout below others

The future leader of California ““ the person who signs off
every year on state funds going to higher education
““ will be decided this November, but this hardly causes
a ripple in the voting-challenged student population at UCLA.

Voting by those between the ages of 18 and 24 has always lagged
behind the rest of the population and effectively mutes the
potentially substantial political voice of 23 million eligible
voters and the vast majority of UCLA students.

“I don’t really think it affects us that
much,” said second-year physiology student Michael
Conception.

The solution to this way of thinking may be in sight. Many
students at UCLA are working on the campus, state and national
levels to counter the perception that voting doesn’t make a
difference.

The University of California Student Association has made one of
its primary goals for the next year the increase of student voter
turnout in the backdrop of the upcoming gubernatorial race between
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and businessman Bill Simon, the
Republican challenger.

“Students need to express their collective needs,”
said Chris Neal, external vice president of the Undergraduate
Students Association Council and UCSA vice-chair.

“This is the power students have as a lobbying
group,” he continued. “But they are only as powerful as
the amount of votes they can amass.”

It is important for UCLA students to register and vote in
Westwood, Neal said, to show local representatives that there is a
large student voting block.

As EVP, Neal serves as the liaison between USAC, which
represents UCLA students and students representing colleges
throughout the state and nation.

With the backing of a substantial student vote, student issues
will ring in the ears of legislators much more loudly than they
have in the past.

Student voices are rarely heard in the state Capitol because
students aren’t as organized as other political groups, said
Max Espinoza, who served as UC student regent in 1998-1999.

UCSA Chair Stephen Klass said a powerful student voting block
could make the difference in making sure important student issues
such as fee increases and financial aid reductions will be acted
upon by elected officials.

“We lack in accountability of elected representatives to
us as students,” Klass said. “Once in office, political
leaders look to who is voting for them in terms of
policies.”

Under this logic, politicians would overwhelmingly pursue the
interests of those over the age of 24, who voted at a whopping clip
of 70 percent in the 2000 presidential elections, compared to the
32 percent rate among college-age voters.

During the last gubernatorial election in 1998, 49 percent of
eligible voters over 24 went to the polls while a paltry 16.6
percent of voters ages 18-24 trudged to the ballot box.

Students who do vote regularly suggested voting locations on
campus to encourage students while they’re walking to and
from class. Currently, around UCLA there are voting booths in the
residence halls and off-campus entities like fraternities and
religious centers.

“If they had some place on campus where people could vote,
that would be helpful,” said fifth-year sociology student
Michelle Eng.

Incidentally, this November voters will have the chance to vote
on a ballot initiative designed to make voting easier.

Proposition 52 would allow for same-day voting registration in
California, effectively eliminating the common voting complaint
that registering to vote is inconvenient. Also, the proposition
would get rid of the 28-day period between the deadline to register
and election day.

Eng added that students have a certain obligation to make sure
their votes are counted.

“I feel that it is my duty as a citizen, and if you have a
strong belief you should take a stand for what you believe
in,” she said.

Adding to the importance of voting is the multitude of
groundbreaking issues in this November’s ballot, along with
Proposition 52:

“¢bull; Voters registered in Los Angeles will have the
opportunity to decide whether the San Fernando Valley secedes from
Los Angeles and becomes its own city. If there is a secession, Los
Angeles would go from the second largest city in the United States
to third, and the newly-formed city would become the nation’s
sixth largest.

“¢bull; Proposition 47, which provides a bond issue of $13.5
billion toward kindergarten through university education in the
state. The money would be used to repair old classrooms in public
schools throughout California and improve their educational
programs. The bond would also fund the upgrade and addition of
facilities in the community colleges, California State University
and UC to accommodate surging enrollment growth in the systems.

“¢bull; The election could produce a significant shift in
Congress. Democrats currently hold a slim 50-49 majority in the
U.S. Senate, with one independent. In the House of Representatives,
Republicans have a 223-209 edge with one independent and two
vacancies.

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