Campus groups step up voter registration

Organizations set up shop across campus to get KU students involved in the 2008 election.

By Jesse Trimble (Contact)

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Efforts to register students to vote on campus are in full swing.

The last day to register is Oct. 20. Campus organizations such as KU Young Democrats, KU College Republicans and Student Legislative Awareness Board are dedicating the next two months to reach as many students as possible.

Andrew Toth, Colby sophomore and president of KU Young Democrats, said it was not just about getting people to vote for Democratic candidates, but rather about overall civic engagement.

“We want this to be a bipartisan effort. We want people who can vote to vote and students who can register to register,” Toth said.

Toth said KU Young Democrats will set up a booth on Wescoe Beach on Sept. 2-4 and Sept. 9-11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The table will have information about voter registration and the upcoming state and national elections.

Toth said KU Young Democrats is working in conjunction with Students for Barack Obama, SLAB and Students for Boyda and Moore. He said KU Young Democrats plan to set up tables in Mrs. E’s before the voter registration deadline.

Michael Gray, Buhler junior and legislative director of SLAB, said that he was surprised by the number of students who registered last week.

“This is a third of what was done last year within the first week,” Gray said. “I think we’ve done an excellent job just getting the word out to students.”

So far, SLAB has registered between 100 and 150 students this past week. The group is also reaching out to the greek and scholarship hall communities in an effort to involve even more students.

Ryan Lawler, Brolingbrook, Ill., senior and SLAB community affairs director, said the main goal for SLAB was to do more than sit on Wescoe Beach.

“We want to reach out to students where they live, where they are comfortable and where they are accessible,” Lawler said. “We’re reaching out instead of sitting back and just considering the circumstances this year.”

SLAB has been meeting with several sororities, fraternities, scholarship hall communities and residence halls.

Gray said the group put together information packets detailing each local and presidential candidate’s stance on issues like abortion, gay marriage, gun rights and capital punishment. SLAB also included polling locations and instructions for absentee ballots in the packets. The Department of Student Housing distributed the packets through the residence halls.

College Republicans and Delta Force are also joining the effort to help register students.

Toth said increased numbers of students were interested in registering this year compared with previous years.

“People are excited about this. There’s a lot of enthusiasm, especially from freshmen,” Toth said. “This whole election season is making everyone enthusiastic about civic engagement and involvement.”

Discussion

All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.