You always remember your first time.
For many inexperienced college student voters whose first timeto vote will be in the Nov. 2 election, certain restrictions onvoting may cause them to not be able to cast their ballot.
Priscilla Arceneaux, office manager of the East Baton RougeParish Voting Registrar’s Office, said the law that forbids peoplefrom being dually registered in two locations can cause a problemfor University students whose primary residences are outside EastBaton Rouge Parish.
Arceneaux said the law is “common knowledge,” but manyfirst-time student voters do not realize the law isimplemented.
Arceneaux said the registration mixup is easy to fix.
“When the registrar’s office finds out a student is duallyregistered, they get in touch with the student and send them anAuthorization to Cancel Voter Registration form, which allows themto cancel registration at their previous site.”
Arceneaux said voter turnout also depends on where people vote.Students living on campus are more likely to vote because there aretwo voting precincts near campus– at the LSU Lab School andUniversity Terrace Elementary.
Though there are opportunities for students to voice theirvotes, first-time voters may be unaware of deadlines for benefitssuch as absentee voting, which allows people to vote by mail andsend their vote to the voting registrar’s office in the precinctwhere they are registered.
“They don’t give you enough time for absentee voting,” MatthewBrundrett, a philosophy and history sophomore from Mandeville, La.,said.
Brundrett said he missed the date to register for absenteevoting, which was last week, and will drive home to vote.
Nicole Martinez, a kinesiology junior, said she never votes onthe simpler issues because she would have to drive home toMandeville to vote.
Young adults are mobile, especially on weekends, said RustyJabour, public affairs manager at Cox Communications of BatonRouge. However, weekday elections like Nov. 2 pose problems forstudents who attend class.
Martinez said she probably will drive home the night before theelection, which is on a Tuesday, and vote the next day.
Marsheena Oliver, a biological sciences sophomore, said she didnot register here because she is registered in Texas, her homestate. She said the media should have done a better job ofinforming people of important deadlines and what places aroundcampus will be open for people to cast their votes.
Jabour said Cox has been working with the LSU and Baton Rougecommunity since Aug. 4 on a program called Voice for Votes, a voteroutreach media program whose objective is to make students moreaware of their voting options.
Southern Media Opinion Research conducted a poll among 400young, registered voters between the ages of 18 and 34 from EastBaton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension, Livingston,St. James and East Feliciana Parishes to assess their position onvoting.
The poll found 48 percent of the voters polled thought theyreceived too little information about elections.
“[The presidential candidates] only focused on a few main points– religion, abortion and taxes. They didn’t focus on enoughstuff,” Brundrett said. “Social Security’s pretty important. It’sgoing to be around when we’re around.”
The poll also showed 80 percent of the voters received most oftheir information about elections from television, while 36 percentsaid they rely mostly on newspapers and 23 percent said they favorthe Internet. And according to the poll, 64 percent have heard orseen ads encouraging young citizens to vote.
Jabour said Voice for Votes has garnered heavy televisioncoverage with at least 6,000 advertisements and also advertising instudent media publications such as The Reveille.
“Our campaign has been crafted to reach young people in the waythey want to be reached,” Jabour said.