With Nov. 7 – this year’s off-year Election Day – less than a month away, voter registration and pleas on its behalf have infiltrated campus. On Tuesday it became a team effort as the Student Government Association organized a voter registration day with other assorted student organizations.
Setting up a horseshoe of foldout tables in the Commons Plaza, volunteers helped about 175 students register to vote and another 100 mail requests for absentee ballots.
“It’s been a pretty good day overall,” said Stephanie Kinard, SGA legislative issues chair and organizer of the event.
Transfer student Kathleen Anderson moved to Richmond two years ago but had not registered in the city until Tuesday.
“It’s about time I put down roots here and get my voting straightened out,” she said.
Anderson said the registration process was easy enough.
“One page, basic info,” she said.
Among the issues students care most about for this year’s general elections, Kinard said the cost of education comes first.
Beyond that, Kinard said race issues are also on students’ minds, particularly related to the Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic candidate Jim Webb.
In August, Allen referred to one of Webb’s campaign workers, who was of Indian descent, as “macaca,” a term many labeled racist. Since then, the race has received national attention, and Webb’s ratings have increased in public opinion polls. As of Monday, the two were each tied at 43 percent, according to a poll of 625 registered Virginia voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.
Kinard said student concerns have not just been about Allen, however.
“There have been negative things said about Webb as well,” she said. “So it’s hard to say which way people are going to sway their votes.”
Webb has been criticized for, among other things, writing an article in 1979 titled “Women Can’t Fight”, in which he argued women cannot lead men in battle.
Regardless of the criticisms, Kinard said she expects high voter turnout.
“The negative energy, it’s really catching peoples”eyes,” she said.
Democrat Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott is running unopposed for re-election in Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Richmond. All 440 of the House’s seats are up for grabs.
A proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage will appear on the ballot.
“Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions,” the amendment states.
Two other ballot questions also regard proposed state constitutional amendments. The first would allow churches to form legal corporations. The second would enable the General Assembly to partially exempt local real estate taxes from certain conservation, redevelopment and rehabilitation projects.
Even if students do not know how they will vote, SGA Senate Chair Jessica Lee said they should still register to vote.
“There’s a deadline to register, October 10th,” Lee said. “And so if you don’t register and end up making up your mind later, you’re going to be screwed. So do it now.”
Lee said the SGA and the New Voters Project registered almost 1,000 people in 2005, and they are now building on these successes.
Virginia21, Libertarians at VCU, VCU Young Democrats and VCU Americans for Informed Democracy joined the SGA Tuesday to help students register. Each group handed out literature about candidates and the issues surrounding the elections.
The Libertarians at VCU even offered a political alignment test for students unsure if they were conservative, liberal, centrist, libertarian or some other political orientation.
Adam Gainer, a junior studying public relations, helped at the Libertarian table. He said all of the groups there had the same goal.
“We’re all here really just to make sure people are getting registered to vote. That’s more important than anything else,” Gainer said. “Democracy doesn’t work unless people make it work. I have no tolerance for voter apathy.”
Many volunteers said they observed some apathy, however.
“It’s kind of hard to get people to stop,” Kinard said. “Some people aren’t quite as interested as others as far as the elections. I’m not even sure if some people know that we’re in elections again, although I hate to say that.”
According to Lee, apathy was not the worst reaction from students that she encountered.
“I got kind of hurt today,” Lee said. “I understand if people want to say ‘no,’ but some people were actually rude about it. Just the way they’d shake their heads or say, ‘Hell no, I’m not gonna do that.’ ”
“They ask if we have something to offer them,” said Sean Presley, a history major and member of VCU AID. “Somebody asked for a free T-shirt. I mean, you want a free T-shirt? You’re getting the right to vote.”
Among the reasons to register to vote, many are practical to VCU students, Lee said.
“The people who we elect appoint our Board of Visitors,” she said. “They fix our tuition. They build buildings here at VCU. They figure out how much taxes on food cost. Everything is tied into government.”
Others cited the history of U.S. citizens’ right to vote as reason enough.
“A lot of people have died for your right to vote, and a lot of people have suffered for your vote,” Gainer said. “People take their liberties for granted. If you don’t voice your opinion, nothing gets changed.”
In the end, though, Gainer said it is up to everyone to make that choice.
“You can’t force anyone to vote, they’ve got to choose to vote,” he said.
Forms for registration or requesting an absentee ballot can be found at the SGA office on the second floor of the University Student Commons, as well as at the Department of Motor Vehicles offices at 2300 W. Broad St. or 610 Johnston Willis Drive. Students can also register online at http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/departments/registrar/. The deadline for Virginia voter registration is Oct. 10.