College Students and Voting

By Aaron Chester

Putting “college students” and “vote” together in the same sentence would only seem appropriate to many by separating them with the word “don’t”.

Though this has historically been the case, Tuesday, Nov. 7, saw a record number of students cast their ballads for the mid-term elections.

About 680 students voted at the Student Union despite long lines and a shortage of voting machines, according to The Diamondback. Of these 680 votes, 222 cast provisional ballads, meaning they will not be counted until their identities have been verified.

According to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections, unofficial results show that nearly 450 votes were cast electronically at the Student Union.

This is a 300 percent increase over the 2002 voter turnout of 149, and almost equivalent to the 2004 presidential election, said Colleen Spivey, campus organizer for Maryland Pubic Interest Research Group (Mary PIRG).

Historically, presidential elections produce a significantly higher turnout than those midterms.

Spivey worked with Maryland Votes and the SGA to register over 2500 students on campus, as well as making sure right before the election that these students would turn out to the polls.

She did so by calling students the night before the election and having them sign a banner on campus. Spivey said that she is very impressed with the turnout, as they were expecting about a 200 percent increase based on the amount registered. Nationally, there was a four percent increase in the 18 to 29 age range; a statistic which Spivey says would be higher if campaigns such as hers were taking place in every city.

“If politicians reached out to students on their own, students would vote,” she said. “They vote when their peers are explaining what is important face to face.”

Spivey says that higher education was a very important issue to students, as tuition has skyrocketed. “Students care about the same issues as older people, but they care about them in a different way,” she said. “Politicians talk about higher education, but they are talking to the parents. When they talk about loans and debt, that’s how we relate.”

Matthew Johnson, a junior and journalism major, says that he was not very excited about voting. “I think it’s overemphasized,” he said. “But I understand the significance of this election.” Though he planned on voting, he realized at the last minute that he was not registered in P.G. County.

“I think they make it to difficult (for us to vote),” he said. “There are a lot of private interests in this country that really don’t want people to vote.” He says that judging from the past, it seems that any vote could be taken away at any moment.

Mark Cullip, a senior and government and politics major, said that he voted for the experience. “I hear everyone talking about all of the problems with the voting machines, and I wanted to be able to relate to that,” he said. Of the turnout, he said, “Collectively, it’s good, because politicians will focus more on our issues, but I’m one of those people who believes that one vote doesn’t make a difference.”

Spivey says that her project and other similar ones were successful, but the politicians need to now take control. “It’s now time for politicians to step up and talk to students on their own,” she said. “We can go above and beyond if politicians address students themselves.”