Hype surrounding the upcoming primaries is everywhere, but despite this pervasiveness many students remain uninformed about how the voting process actually works.
For many Bruins the upcoming elections will be their first opportunity to vote, and for others it’s the first time voting for a presidential candidate. Taking an active role in researching your rights as a voter and understanding the process is imperative to making an informed decision when voting. Students can impact the outcome of the upcoming election when they make the most of their democratic rights.
“I haven’t voted before so I don’t know the process,” said Steve Mayer, a first-year English student.
As I looked for students to interview about the subject at Bruin Café, I was rejected by a number of students who didn’t feel knowledgeable on the subject.
“I know that a Clinton and Obama are for the Democrats and for the Republicans I don’t know anything,” said Jamie Subandhi, a first-year physiological science student.
At a large university like UCLA, the active participants in political discussion give the facade that all students are politically aware.
“For the first time in a long time young voters are turned on by politics, tons of enthusiasm, tons of focus to see what’s going on,” said Kyle Kleckner, president of Bruin Democrats and a fourth-year political science student.
While some young voters are enthusiastic, it is sad that a large portion of students are not even sure how the presidential primaries work. Many students exhibit a frustrating indifference about voting once they’ve registered.
“I just show up on election day and vote there, that’s my limited knowledge of such,” said Travis Pirdy, a fourth-year screenwriting student.
Bruins are also unaware of restrictions placed on voters without a declared party. Currently California has a modified closed primary that allows only “declined-to-state” voters who request a party’s ballot to vote for that party, if the party has given written permission to the state 135 days prior to the election.
Unlike the previous June 2006 and March 2004 elections, which had written permission by the Democratic and Republican parties, this February’s election only received a statement from the Democratic party. One in five of every California voters is “declined to state,” meaning they did not declare a political party when registering.
This gives these undecided voters a lot of sway in the upcoming primaries. The decision to declare or not is important to many students who have not yet fully formed their political views.
“Coming out of high school, I wanted to reserve the right to vote for either party,” said Caitlyn Korb, a third-year political science student aware of the voting restrictions.
Regardless of the restrictions, it is good to know what you will come across at the polls and how to register in a way to make your vote count. The Los Angeles Almanac reports that while 69.5 percent of voters in the county participated in the 2004 general election, only 34.1 percent participated in the primaries. With fewer people at the polls, this is the time to make your vote count.
“This year so many things are up in the air that voting in the California primaries could make a difference of who the candidates are and could have a huge impact in the election,” said David Lazar, a graduate economics student and former columnist for the Daily Bruin.
Besides just going to the polls, it is important to utilize the resources at student’s fingertips to get to know the candidates. Many residents of the Hill are lucky enough to have profiles of the candidates in their lounges as a part of the Election INVASION campaign.
Getting to know the candidates and deciding whether it is important to affiliate with a party is the main issue right now so you can register on time. Also remember that if you are planning on voting Democratic as a “declined to state,” you must request the ballot. Staying informed is the best way to make an intelligent vote come election day.
Find out more information about the process at http://www.sos.ca.gov under the Elections menu and be sure to register to vote by Tuesday, Jan. 22.
E-mail Mier at smier@media.ucla.edu. Send General comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.