Thrusday I helped out with what our Vice Chair Jamie Stark aptly named the Voter Reg-stravaganza! We helped register a bunch of new voters and it was tons of fun. Unfortunately, far too many people walked past and ignored us or declined our offer because they didn’t want to “waste” the five minutes registering would take. Even more unfortunate was the fact that most people who walked past asked, “Wait, when are the next elections?”
Now on one hand, I can understand that for the average student, spring elections are not as exciting as they are for people like us. However, it is your own responsibility to go out and get educated. Not voting because you didn’t know enough about the election is NOT a valid excuse. There are still more than three weeks before the April 6th election. Read the papers. Take five minutes to do some of your own research. Learn about the races. Learn about the candidates. Then, go vote.
I’m glad to say we’ve already registered over 100 voters in the last few days, not counting the huge voter registration effort led by the Analiese Eicher campaign. Unfortunately, that’s nothing compared to the number of voters registered before the 2008 presidential election. But Maggie is right–even though April 6 may not decide an election as sexy as the presidency, but we still have a duty as Americans to stay informed and vote. Thanks to everyone who has registered so far!