Voter registration forms sitting on tables or clutched in the
hands of club representatives have become a common sight to
students traveling up and down Bruin Walk and represent a
cooperative effort from several student groups to get students to
register to vote in the Nov. 2 general election.
Believing the outcome of the upcoming election will have a
direct impact on the lives of students, several student groups at
UCLA have formed a coalition and worked together to inspire
students to register to vote and to educate them about ballot
initiatives.
In order to be valid for the Nov. 2 election, voter registration
forms must be postmarked by today’s date.
While the deadline for registration ends today, the drive to
inform students about the pros and cons of the measures up for vote
will continue until election day, said John Vu, the external vice
president for the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
Besides voting for the next president of the United States,
voters on Nov. 2 will be faced with 16 propositions on issues
ranging from an amendment of the “Three-strikes” law to
tribal gaming compacts, from stem cell research to mental health
care services.
One big reason for the push to bring up the number of student
voters is that it will force politicians to address the issues
concerning students, said Laura Loewenstein, the coordinator for
the California Public Interest Research Group’s new voters
project.
“They think we’re apathetic,” she said.
“Politicians don’t address issues toward this age group
“¦ and then (young) people feel like they don’t have a
reason to vote.”
“By getting more people in this age group to vote, CALPIRG
hopes to get the politicians to address issues that more directly
affect us, such as education, the war on Iraq or the draft,”
Loewenstein said.
CALPIRG wanted to have 3,000 students registered to vote by
today. As of Friday, the number was approaching 2,000, Loewenstein
said.
While the focus up to this point has been getting students,
especially those who live on campus, to register to vote,
“the purpose of this whole campaign is to get students
educated and motivated,” Vu said.
“It’s about students being able to get invested
within their own country and community because they are voting
someone into office to hopefully represent them,” Vu said. He
added that while the coalition has been doing its best to register
students, another main priority is getting students educated on the
initiatives.
“Week four will see a big “˜get out the vote’
push,” with the coalition sponsoring debates, workshops,
panels and a concert to get the information about what students are
voting on, Vu said.
The coalition of student groups includes USAC, CALPIRG and the
Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, among others who feel it is
necessary to impress on students the importance of voting.
Some groups lack the manpower to table and register students to
vote.
Instead, “we have concentrated our efforts on the
education drive,” said Lynne Nguyen, the assistant director
of external affairs for the Asian Pacific Coalition.
“So many of the policies that are on the table are issues
that really affect students, that affect people of color, like the
war on terror, gay rights and budget issues,” Nguyen said.
“I think everyone recognizes the urgency of this
election.”
On a larger scale, Rock The Vote, an MTV-sponsored organization
dedicated to convincing the younger portion of the public of the
importance of voting, had registered 1,363,342 people as of Sunday
afternoon.
Loewenstein noted that only 36 percent of people 18-24 years old
voted in the last presidential election.
“We’ve been out tabling every day,”
Loewenstein said. “I think we’re definitely successful,
even if we just reach out to a few people “¦ we’re
working toward making people aware of the need to vote.”
Some students agree that voting is a necessary part of living in
the United States.
“It’s an important civic duty,” said Jessica
Potts, a second-year undeclared student, who plans to vote in the
upcoming election.
Other students do not plan to register to vote, like Tony Zhou,
a second-year undeclared student.
“I guess I’m kind of just apathetic to politics in
general,” Zhou said.
“I don’t agree with any one candidate, and
there’s so many complex issues. It just doesn’t hold my
interest.”