Editorial: Student votes make a difference
Sept. 5, 2008
With campaign season in full swing, we at The Maneater have politics on our minds. MU students - we hope you feel the same.
Here in Missouri, your vote counts, and not only in local and state-level elections. Because Missouri is a swing state, it's more important than ever that you get out and vote for your chosen candidates this November. If you aren't registered yet, don't wait any longer. The Associated Students of the University of Missouri are holding tons of voter registration drives around campus, and the Boone County Clerk's Office on Walnut Street is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The deadline for voter registration for November's presidential election is Wednesday, Oct. 8, so you still have plenty of time to sign up.
If you aren't a Missouri resident, you can still register to vote in Missouri for this election as long as you do so by the deadline above - and if you go this route, you won't even have to send an absentee ballot to your home state. For your time here at MU, it's best that you're registered to vote here in Boone County, because the politicians you'll vote for will make the decisions affecting you most directly while you're living in Columbia.
Once you're registered, be sure to research each candidate thoroughly to ensure you're using your vote exactly how you want to. Determine what issues are most important to you, and find out what candidate advocates your views and will do the most to make them realities. Keep up with the news, and stay informed about campaigns. Be sure that you agree with their plans, whether for Columbia, the state or the nation as a whole.
As for candidates, local and national, please don't forget that we as college students constitute a large sector of the electorate. Visit us! Speak with us! If you set up town hall-style meetings, many interested students will show up to ask questions and hear what you have to say. Tell us what you'll do to help ease the cost of college tuition. Inform us about what you'll do to help Columbia or Missouri. Address the issues affecting college students, and you're likely to earn our votes. We're pretty sure more than 25,000 additional ballots can make a difference in many elections.
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