Absent(ee) Voters

With the voter registration deadline 12 days away, UCLA’s
official student lobbyist and its state senator are both urging
students from outside of Los Angeles to re-register locally so they
can have an effect on issues in the Los Angeles area for the next
four or more years.

They say students’ ability to affect political issues on
the local and state levels could be stifled if they do not vote
locally.

“I think there is no real student voting block,”
said State Senator Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, who represents the
district that includes UCLA.

“That could be a real problem for the student voice ever
being heard in elections.”

“If they want to affect the election then they definitely
have to register here,” she said.

Voters ages 18-24 typically vote in lower numbers than their
older counterparts, and at a college like UCLA where a substantial
number of students come from out of town, their collective vote is
distributed throughout the state and country.

But efforts on the student level are looking to improve the
scattered student vote by encouraging students to register
locally.

Chris Neal, external vice president for the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, has taken the lead in the effort,
helping to get the word spread on campus and in the residence
halls.

Neal said many students will spend the next few years living in
the surrounding area, and they will be affected by local
legislation and policy.

“(Students) live here, so they should vote here,” he
said.

As EVP, Neal works with broader student organizations beyond the
scope of UCLA ““ namely the University of California Student
Association and the U.S. Student Association ““ both of which
lobby legislators about student-oriented policy, such as tuition
hikes and student housing issues.

He said the power of thousands of locally-registered Bruins
could greatly increase his political clout the next time he heads
up to Sacramento to lobby on behalf of them.

But he added that a student voting block could have the most
influence on a closer level.

“It will affect a lot of local races,” Neal
said.

Beyond voting, representatives on the city level encourage
students to get involved in local issues ““ such as those
affecting Westwood and Los Angeles directly, like the proposed
secession of the San Fernando Valley from the city ““ to
effect lasting change.

“UCLA students need to get involved and pay attention to
(local) issues to make their voices heard,” said Lisa Hansen,
press aide for L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss, whose Fifth
District includes Westwood. “(Weiss) will be
responsive.”

Kuehl said students don’t necessarily need to vote the
same way, but rather in enough numbers to show to legislators they
are a legitimate political force.

“If students care about their education “¦ it would
help if they were a block of voters and not simply a block of
interested students,” she said.

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