TIGERTV ONLINE REPORTER

The current Voter Registration Drive is helping all kinds of students gain a voice in the government by making it convenient to register to vote.

“Convenience is a big factor,” organizer of the drive and SG Senator David Jones said. “People need to get it done and it’s right here.”

With a table in Free Speech Alley available from 10 a.m. to 2p.m., the ease of registering is one reason for the success of voter registration drives on campus such as this one.

“I’ve wanted to register for a while, and now I can do it because it’s right here,” undecided freshmen Victoria Walters said.

Despite this and other initiatives to get out the vote, statistics show low voter turnout for people ages 18 to 29. According to www.civicyouth.org, in the 2004 presidential election, 48 percent of Louisiana youth voted. While this may seem good compared to the general voter turnout of 47 percent for that election, youth turnouts were as high as 69 percent in other states like Minnesota.

Numbers for local and state election turnouts are often lower. The open primary held October 17 in Louisiana had a youth turnout of 13 percent, according to www.sos.louisiana.gov.

“It’s a problem nationwide; it’s not just symptomatic in Louisiana,” Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said. “Whenever I talk to young adults I tell them, ‘you’re missing out on an opportunity to influence public policy and government.’…the numbers say that group could have a big impact on elections.”

This attitude is reflected in some of the responses from students walking by the table.

“We will ask people walking by if they are registered and they’ll say ‘no’ so we’ll ask if they want to be, and they’ll say ‘no’ again,” Ashley Duplessis, a biological sciences senior who helped people register during the drive said. “They’ll just keep walking.”

Other students disagree with this apathy.

“You should vote because it influences politics and allows you to take part in government,” sociology senior Matt Brady said.

However, general voter turnout for the 2008 presidential election was significantly higher at 52 percent according to civicyouth.org.

“It’s always a rollercoaster with youth voting,” Dardenne said. “It seems to pick up for major elections and for regular elections it goes down.”

While many from Student Government’s external affairs committee, which Jones is head of, and other SG leaders and non-affiliated students helped put together and support the drive, Jones began the initiative himself.

“It’s just something I’m doing,” Jones said. “You’ll start to see student leaders taking charge without organizations when things need doing.”

Last year 2,150 students were registered during voter registration drives on campus throughout the year. So far 120 have been registered after a few days of sitting at the table.

Typically many students who register are freshmen but some are also transfer students who want to change their residence to Louisiana. Many of those who help out with the registration process are affiliated with student government or are political science majors, although other types of students are facilitating registration.

“Anyone who has a heart to serve and wants to help out can,” Jones said.

No interaction with the office of the Secretary of State is needed to organize a voter registration drive, although some guidelines exist, such as turning in voter applications to their respective parishes within 30 days of dating. The office of the Secretary of State, however, has made an effort to interact with voters.

“We’ve got an aggressive outreach section that encourages people to vote once they register,” Dardenne said. “We spend a lot of time talking at meetings and schools…”

Voter registration drives are usually organized when an individual or political party wants to advocate general voting or voting for a certain party, but it can also be inspired by a visible need for people to be able to vote.

“It’s an off election, so no one else is doing it, but there are potentially thousands of students not registered,” Jones said.

Ultimately Jones hopes to help gives students a voice to make decisions in our democracy with the drive. As a political science major he thinks participation in a democracy is vital to its success.

“When voter enthusiasm declines, democracy declines,” Jones said. “You give up your rights.”