A coalition of more than 20 OU student groups bent on registering thousands of new voters will be out in force throughout the week at several campus hot spots.
OU Votes: 2008 in 2008 has a goal of registering at least 2,008 new voters before the November election, said Kurt Davidson, political science senior and OU Votes coordinator.
“It will be like nothing we have ever seen at OU,” Davidson said. “It will be a massive campaign that involves voter registration, voter education, and voter participation.”
Every day this week, voter registration booths will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the South Oval, in Cate Center and in the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Davidson said. The booths will also be open Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.
The drive is organized by Undergraduate Student Congress and the Carl Albert Center, and is the largest in recent history, Davidson said.
The purpose of the project isn’t just to get people to register, it is also to get people in the polling stations in November.
“You can register as many voters as you want,” Davidson said. “But if nobody comes out to vote, it’s all a waste of time.”
Davidson said it is a student’s responsibility to vote. If the younger generation doesn’t speak up in the election, then its members have no right to complain about future policies, he said.
“We’re definitely going to encourage them [students] to vote, no matter what,” political science senior Kayla Downing said.
Downing, OU Votes organizer, said she hopes the program will encourage more students to become involved in politics.
She said students who register to vote through the OU Votes program will be encouraged to register in Norman, but booth volunteers will also have resources to help out-of-state students register in their hometowns.
Sam Ikard, political science junior and vice president of the OU Young Democrats, said his group will handle the voter registration booth in Cate Center. If students register to vote there, their names will be submitted into a drawing for an autographed football by former OU football coach Barry Switzer.
OU College Republicans is also involved in voter registration efforts.
OU is competing with other colleges, including Oklahoma State University, to see which school can register the most new voters, Davidson said.
In addition to organizing voter registration booths, the coalition of student groups, including the College Republicans and Young Democrats, will be hosting several activities during September and October, including lectures and political debates.
OU President David L. Boren will lead a political discussion in the kickoff event, Pizza and Politics with President Boren.
Matthew Gress, political science and history junior and OU Votes programming coordinator, said he hopes Boren will take questions from students because of the sensitivity of this election.
“I think there is a lot at stake in this election,” Gress said. “Funding for higher education and financial aid assistance are both key elements.”
As a finale to the OU Votes project, there will be a Rock the Vote concert Oct. 6 at 5:30 p.m. The concert line-up is not complete, but it will be held on the Walker-Adams Mall.
— James Roth contributed reporting.
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epollard 3 years, 8 months ago
don't you guys know that community organizing is a joke.