Due to the recent efforts of ‘Get Out the Vote’ week, sponsored by the Boston University Election Day 2002 Coalition, 1,000 newly registered BU students are registered to cast their votes in the upcoming mid-term election on Nov. 5.
The coalition, consisting of the Youth Vote Coalition, the BU Student Union, College Democrats and the College Republicans, reached the students in several ways. The organizations have registered all members of the Union Senate, more than 300 students during Midnight Madness, numerous students at Warren Towers and several others through the Student Link.
‘Anyone unsatisfied with how America is run must vote if they wish to continue to complain,’ said Carl Woog, Union vice president of student affairs. ‘Dissent is appropriate, but everyone should still vote.’
The Youth Vote Coalition, a national organization working to educate young voters and increase turnout, gathered these organizations together and sponsored the various efforts to reach the student body. They also plan to endorse a ‘Smackdown Your Vote’ rally at Northeastern University this Monday, as well as an election night party at the Copley Marriott from 8 p.m. to midnight Tuesday night.
‘Generally, people our age don’t know enough about the election, or think they don’t have time to vote,’ said Brian Tanner, the field director of the Boston Field Site of the Youth Vote Coalition.
The BU Election Day 2002 Coalition has scheduled a telethon Nov. 4 to contact prospective voters in the surrounding BU area and remind them to vote. The telethon aims to reach as many people as possible and pass on information regarding voting locations and times.
Due to the fact many college students switch residences from year to year, most need to re-register if they wish to vote in the upcoming election, Tanner said.
‘In a recent voter turn-out projection, only 13 percent of college youth will vote this Tuesday,’ Tanner said. ‘A lot of credit goes to the BU students who helped form this coalition and try to raise that statistic.’
The coalition hopes to ignite the ‘political hotbed’ of students in the Boston area because the high number of potential voters can make a large difference in Election Day results, according to Tanner.
‘We aim to turn the financial clout that the students have in this area into political clout,’ Tanner said.
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