I’ve been working on writing this entry for like, a week, but I keep getting caught up in other stuff—oh, the woes of finals week. Let’s just pretend that the timeline of what I’ve written makes sense, eh?

When I woke up this morning, I had an e-mail in my inbox from Rock the Vote, about the Iowa caucuses. I didn’t really know much about what’s going on out there, but when I read the e-mail (which I’ve posted below), I got really angry.

“Over the past week, several campaigns, candidates and political reporters have stated that college students who moved to Iowa to attend school should not vote in the Iowa caucuses.

“These statements are a frustrating and disappointing attempt to suppress the student vote, and are also legally incorrect. According to the Iowa Secretary of State, all Iowa students have the right to vote in the town where they attend college in Iowa. From the Secretary’s website:

‘If you are from another state (i.e. Illinois) and are attending college in Iowa (i.e. Iowa State University), you may register to vote in:

• your Iowa college town or
• your home state (hometown) and vote absentee - subject to the laws of your home state.’

“To tell students that they can only vote in the town that they came from, rather than in the town where they live, is a clear effort to disenfranchise student voters. Attempts on the part of campaigns to deter eligible voters from voting should be forcefully and immediately denounced.

“These statements are even more disturbing given the unprecedented levels of engagement we’re seeing from today’s young voters – both in participating in the 2008 campaigns, organizing their peers to register and vote in the caucuses and primaries, and in their recent historic turnout levels in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Young adults’ growing political participation should be encouraged, not deterred.

“Rock the Vote urges every campaign and candidate to issue a statement that validates students’ right to vote in Iowa and lauds young Americans for their increased engagement in the political process. We also encourage all media outlets to make clear in their reporting leading up to January 3rd that college students have rights equal to any Iowa resident to vote in the Iowa caucuses.

“Students go to a college or university for 4 or 5 years and many stay on in those communities afterwards. They pay sales tax, many work full or part-time jobs and pay income tax, and they are subject to the laws of the community in which they live – they have every right to vote in that community, legally and morally.

“It is important to note that this is an issue larger than the Iowa caucuses. Legally, students have the right to vote where they go to school in virtually every state across the country. Despite this, we see challenges to student voters year after year. As we have in the past, Rock the Vote will make sure all students know their rights in 2008, and will work to ensure all eligible voters are allowed to register and vote in the 2008 elections.

“Rock the Vote’s Iowa program Rock the Caucus aims to mobilize high school and college students to caucus on January 3rd. As always, Rock the Vote will aggressively ensure young people know that if they live in Iowa, they can vote in Iowa, and let them know where candidates stand on important issues like student voting rights.

“Again, Rock the Vote urges every candidate to issue a statement that clearly validates students’ right to vote in Iowa and lauds young Americans for their increased engagement in the political process.

Learn more about our Iowa program and pledge to Rock the Caucus, here: http://www.rockthevote.com/rockthecaucus

First off, I just want to point out that I find it absolutely ridiculous that this is even an issue in today’s world. The 26^th amendment gave students the right to vote once they turn 18. Period. Students should know that by now. No campaign, candidate, or reporter should have any opportunity to convince them otherwise. People should know that by now.

Moving on.

I’m sorry, but this just makes me really, really angry. I found another article on politico.com (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7378.html) about this same issue. It reminds me of all of those terrible things I learned about in high school US History class, things that happened so long ago to keep certain groups from voting—the Grandfather Clause, poll taxes, literacy tests, gerrymandering, and so on. Some people may say that’s taking it a step far, but to me, the intent is largely the same. Trying to convince students in Iowa not to vote is a blatant attempt to disenfranchise student voters. And it’s absolutely ridiculous. [Aside: On a personal level, for me, the primaries and caucuses don’t affect me. I’m registered as an independent and the state of Maryland holds primaries after the presidential nominees are effectively set]. But you’d better believe that If I went to school in Iowa, or any other state that had such major clout in the electoral process (like the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primaries), or in a swing state for that matter, I would re-register with a party in that state in a heartbeat.

One of the things that we keep talking about in our project is how important it is to maximize youth turnout, because every vote counts. But, as unfortunate as it is, some votes count more than others. Votes in the Iowa caucus end up playing a bigger role than votes in primaries in states like Maryland. Students in Iowa are allowed to vote in Iowa, and honestly it’s the best strategic move. Because what is the election process if not a game of strategy? Candidates use all these different tactics to maximize the votes they get, so that they can get into office. It’s perfectly legitimate for voters to use similar strategic moves to get their votes to have the most effect.

But I digress.

Anyway, the part of this issue that is most pertinent to out project is the fact that students might be affected by such terrible moves on the part of the campaigns, candidates, and the media. As far as I know, in most states students are allowed to re-register with their school address in the state. To what extent are students across the country unaware of this rule?

Based on my experiences here at Maryland, I feel like most people know that they can register in College Park, because the SGA and other student groups (like the College Democrats and College Republicans and the New Voters Project at MaryPIRG) have, in the past, put in significant efforts to register students with their campus addresses. But hearing about such a terrible occurrence in Iowa makes me wonder if this is true here at Maryland, as well as what the situation is at other schools. Is this issue something we need to be concentrating on in our research?

Well, that’s that for now. Back to finals studying—good luck to everyone else on finals.

Happy Holidays, all!

-Supraja

Input from Rock the Vote's Chris Kennedy

I corresponded with Chris Kennedy from Rock the Vote via email, and interviewed him.

The purpose of Rock the Vote is to increase the political voice of the youth in America. This past August, Young Voter Strategies integrated their programs with Rock the Vote's programs. They hope that this integration will lead to more effective efforts to get out the vote for youth.

Rock the Vote plans to register 2 million young voters for the 2008 election. I hope that this goal will be reached. In the "Top Ten Tips to Mobilize Young Voters" by Young Voter Strategies, it states that "in 2004, 81 percent of registered 18-29 year olds voted." Thus, registering new voters plays a huge role in increasing youth vote. This is something to keep in mind for our team as we develop our mobilization tactic.

Chris Kennedy is a research analyst at Rock the Vote, and his "primary job responsibility is to coordinate voter registration field experiments across various media (direct mail, email, Facebook, in-person, online advertising, etc.). [He] also [analyzes] Census data on youth voting, [conducts] forecasting and [creates] targets from [their] registration database, and [helps] with online organizing activities."

He gave us a lot of great advice and suggested new resources. He suggested a software program that our team should look into, for doing online surveys. He also said that he would be happy to hear about our continuing progress. It would be great to continue our correspondence with him, and to hear his input regarding our project.

~Sarah

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