A Look into Tactics Already at Work at UMD

I met with Student Government Association President, Andrew Friedson, to discuss voting initiatives that the SGA and the University are taking to increase the youth vote on campus. As president, one of Andrew’s goals is to convey to students that voting is essential.

The SGA has attempted various tactics to register students on campus to vote. These tactics include dorm storming, registering at major campus events, and visiting student group meetings. Also, voting in elections was emphasized in the Freshmen Welcome Convocation. In fact, on every packaged lunch handed out to new students, there was a sticker that read, “Terps Vote!” on it. Another interesting tactic was to place a voter registration card and a stamped envelope on all 11,000 on-campus beds when students moved in. Finally, during the City Council Election in November, the SGA provided vans to transport students to voting polls.

Since the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester, the SGA has registered 1,064 new students. While this number may seem low compared to the 25,000 undergrads at the University, it is a step in the right direction. Friedson noted that a main reason for student’s lack of desire to register in College Park is because they do not want to change their voting rights from their home county or state. In the focus groups we conducted on October, we found this reason to be very true.

Another reason why students are apathetic toward voting is because they are a dynamic group, and politicians do not really look for their support. Students are mobile – they come to college for 4 years, and then move on. Their residence is constantly changing, so it is difficult to get a grasp on them. Students also want sudden changes. Many issues and bills take ages to pass through the political world, so students oftentimes get frustrated with the slow process, and see no point of it.

This should not be the case. Compared to older demographics, students have more time and a true investment in politics. Even is a policy takes 10 years to be implemented, we will still be around to feel its effects. Students are also more active than other demographics. We seek change constantly, whether it is environmentally or socially, so we should advocate for the politicians who can help bring about these changes.

During my interview, I asked Andrew how the administration plays a role in the topic of youth voting. I learned that every publicly funded University is required to make some initiative in registering students to vote. Although the SGA is involved in many of the tactics around campus, it is important to note that the administration is funding these ploys. For example, it was administration that paid for all of those stamped envelops placed on resident’s beds when they moved in.

Currently, there are debates going on regarding a full time staff member at the University whose main job would be to register students. This is a great idea – to have one person lead this initiative would establish a permanent awareness of the issue.

In regards to our team, Andrew suggested meeting with other groups on campus that are doing similar things as us. For example, the College Democrats, College Republicans, and Republican Women are all trying to register students to vote. Andrew also noted it is difficult to build passion into people, so it may not be worth our efforts to try to target those who students who just do not care about voting. Of course our final decisions will be made based on survey results, but his points are well taken.

- Alka Jhaveri