LETTER: Where are you?

Boston University students, where are you? Are you sitting in class? Are you sitting on the T? Are you lounging in the Franklin Lounge at Towers? One thing I know for sure is that you probably are not registering to vote. And that is a huge problem. Right now, MASSPIRG and the Student Union have teamed up to run a voter registration drive all around campus. The reason? There is an important special election coming up and by the looks of things, no one knows about it. When Senator Edward Kennedy passed away, a void was left not only in Democratic Party and in the hearts of liberals and progressives all over the country; there was also a void created in the U.S. Senate.

This January, there will be a special election to put someone in that seat currently being occupied by an appointed temporary placeholder. The last time there was an open seat for Senate in Massachusetts was 1984, when John Kerry won over Ray Shamie. Senate elections usually happen every 6 years and due to the powers of incumbency, there is rarely much turnover. Right now, there are at least 6 people running to claim that open seat, four in the Democratic Party primary and two in the Republican Party primary. The Democratic candidates are: Alan Khazei, Martha Coakley, Michael Capuano and Steven Pagiluca. The Republican candidates are Scott Brown and Jack Robinson. This is pretty much as wide open as a race can get in a federal election in Massachusetts, and if you want to have a part in it, you have to act fast. The deadline to be registered to vote in the primaries is Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Now, I can understand if you are skeptical about whether or not you should vote in Massachusetts. You probably ‘live’ in another state, perhaps hundreds of miles away. But the truth of the matter is, you spend the majority of the year in Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, and whether you like it or not, you ‘live’ here. The things that affect Massachusetts affect you, and if you don’t register the only difference between you and a ‘real’ resident will be this: they have a say over how things happen to them, and you won’t. So beyond the fact there is a very rare special election that will affect national politics in a very real way, there is another reason for registering: how you vote here affects how your life at BU is. Now another reason people might be afraid to register to vote is because they live in what is known as a ‘swing state’ or a ‘swing district’ and want to keep their ability to vote in other ‘important’ races. If this is a concern, I recommend you still go down to the George Sherman Union and talk to the people working hard to get students registered. It’s easy enough to change your voter registration; it only takes one form. So no matter where you are, there is one place you ought to be come December: In the voting booth. The only way to do that is to register now before it is too late.

Matt Wall
Treasurer
Boston University College Democrats