Student groups rally to encourage student vote
Published Sept. 12, 2008
Correction appended
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean told MU students that they are important in the upcoming election at a rally last Saturday.
"If you want a change, it's up to you to make it happen," Dean said.
About nine out of 10 local political party leaders said the lack of youth involvement in politics is a serious problem, according to a Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement survey.
Only 8 percent of party leaders identified young voters as the most important demographic in the success of their parties.
Youth voting increased by 11 percent in the last presidential election, according to CIRCLE. Still, less than half of 18- to 24-year-old citizens voted, compared to two-thirds of citizens 25 and older.
Student groups in Missouri are working to increase the youth vote.
The MU College Republicans held a "pro-America" rally on Wednesday in Columbia to show support for men and women in uniform.
About 20 attendees of the rally stood on the corner of Providence Road and Broadway, holding signs telling cars to honk in support of America's troops.
Additionally, Young Democrats of Missouri College Federation Chairman Nate Kennedy said his organization is working until the election to continue the upswing of young voters.
"We just had the Young Democrats of Missouri Day of Action where we registered 659 people to vote," Kennedy said.
This number broke the total number of voters the organization registered in all of 2006, he said.
Kennedy said the Day of Action consisted of volunteers registering students to vote on campus at Memorial Union, Speaker's Circle and Lowry Mall. The event also included a dunk tank at Lowry Mall, where any student who registered to vote was given the chance to dunk a person wearing an elephant costume.
Kennedy said the organization plans to hold more Days of Action before the election in order to educate students about voting on campus.
"Once they know the pros of voting in Columbia rather than their hometowns, they're more likely to register here," he said.
Applications for a voter registration card are available on the Secretary of State Web site, sos.mo.gov.
MU students who are either residents of a Missouri county outside of Boone County or are out-of-state residents have the option of registering with their campus address or voting in their hometown with an absentee ballot.
"The absentee voting process is really difficult in Missouri," Kennedy said. "It's much easier to vote on campus. Students are more likely to vote here at Memorial Union, for example, because it's much more convenient."
Some college students around the country do not have such an easy voting procedure.
Students at St. Louis University have started a non-partisan advocacy group called SLU Students for Voters Rights. The group promotes students to register to vote in Missouri and also for SLU to open a polling location on campus.
The nearest polling location for SLU students is more than a mile off-campus. Only 55 SLU students registered at that polling location voted in the February primary, according to a news release from the group.
The advocacy group is gathering signatures on a petition to open an on-campus polling station, as well as asking students to volunteer at the polls Nov. 4.
This article has been changed to reflect the following correction.
Correction:
The Sept. 19 report "Demstock draws local candidates" incorrectly refered to Nate Kennedy. Kennedy is the chairman of the Young Democrats of Missouri College Federation, part of the statewide organization Young Democrats of Missouri. The Maneater regrets the error.
(Added 8:09 p.m., September 19, 2008)