It’s not just about apathy or about struggling with voter
registration. Rather, the reason why many students fail to vote is
because they do not think they know enough to make informed
decisions, according to a Youth Vote 2004 survey.
College students, living away from home and often isolated on
their campuses, are set apart from the politics of local elections
and even from statewide ballot measures.
Carl Pestelos, a third-year political science and economics
student, said he knows about national issues through reading the
newspaper and watching the news. However, for local issues on his
ballot as a registered voter in Los Angeles, he said he is not well
informed.
“They don’t target students because students come
from all different areas,” he said. “There is a focus
on the residents who are paying property tax.”
To reach out to students, organizations and candidates that are
not part of a national election must rely on alternate methods of
campaigning focused on giving students information.
“You have to target students where they live, work and
play ““ online, radio and technology such as with text
messaging and wireless communications,” said Doug Piwinski, a
public relations consultant for Declare Yourself, an organization
focused on getting students to vote.
“If there was some way to get into video games, we would
do that too,” he said. “You have to think about a
students’ day, what they do.”
Raising youth voter awareness is especially important for ballot
measures affecting students. For example, Proposition 55 is a
ballot measure that will, if passed, take out $12.3 billion in
bonds to go toward California education, including $690 million to
repair and build University of California facilities.
Because of the measure’s direct impact on students,
campaign organizers have been working to target student voters.
“There are numerous efforts taking place,” said
Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the Proposition 55 campaign.
“On the UCs themselves … they cannot advocate specifically
for 55. What the campaign has been doing is emphasizing the voter
information effort, concentrating on enrolling and registering
students to vote.”
The campaign has also gained endorsements from many student
associations and presidents of student groups at the UC, California
State University campuses and community colleges.
Pestelos said he knew about Proposition 55 from a mass e-mail he
received from Michael Eicher, the vice chancellor of external
affairs, as part of the campaign to reach students.
But on the local ballot measures and candidates, Pestelos said
he didn’t know many specifics.
“Our apartment has been getting stuff from the local
Congressional elections from Karen Bass and Richard Groper, but I
don’t feel like I’m affected that much by the local
elections,” he said.
One of the candidates for California State Assembly District 47,
Bass said she has been working to reach out to students.
“It’s absolutely critical to pay attention to young
voters,” Bass said. “They are inconsistent voters
because they are often times ignored. A young voter is not going to
put an “˜X’ by a box just because a person has been in
office for 20 years because they are more open-minded.”
But students said they do not believe local elections will
directly affect the way they live their lives. This is especially
because they are not always actively taking part in the economy or
in society outside the UCLA campus.
“I don’t really ever know what is going on around
here,” said Erica Fox, a second-year psychology student.
“If it were going to affect me, I would feel a little more
involved … We live in a little bubble in Westwood.”
Piwinski, of Declare Yourself, said students can be a valuable
asset to any campaign if the campaign can effectively mobilize them
as a voting bloc.
“If young people unified or got together for any issue or
to back any candidate, they would have a significant voice in this
country,” he said. “The problem is, which issue and
which candidate. Think about senior citizen power. The same power
can be generated by young people.”