After casting their ballots, students can watch the election results as they come in with free food and company at the Election Night Watch Party.
The party, held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Cate Main, will start just before the polls close at 7 p.m., said Madison Hobson, public affairs and administration senior.
OU Housing and Food will provide chips, salsa, cookies, punch and other snacks, and the Carl Albert Center and Department of Political Science will provide pizza, Hobson said.
Student Government Association, Carl Albert Center Civic Engagement Fellows, the Graduate Assistants of Political Science, Adams Center and Society of Professional Journalists are all working together to hold the event, Hobson said.
“We all have the same goal to include students,” Hobson said.
Students will be able to watch results on a giant inflatable screen, said Alyssa Rice, SGA’s external affairs chair.
SGA is involved with the watch party because they were involved with the OU Votes initiative. The event is a continuation of those efforts, Rice said.
The Society of Professional Journalists is participating in the event because it seemed like the most fitting for their monthly meeting, said Molly Evans, president of the organization.
"If you're a journalist for a general newspaper or online news publication, you're usually covering the elections," she said, "But for journalism students, a watch party can still at least show them how they are covered, particularly in the broadcast medium."
Allen Hertzke, political science professor, and Lawrence Baines, associate dean for graduate studies and research, will speak at the event, Hobson said. Hertzke will provide insight into politics while Baines will discuss how politics specifically affect education, Hobson said.
Other members of the political science department, such as graduate teaching assistant Sondra Petty, will attend the event as well.
Petty’s main role is to motivate and inform political science students about the event, she said. She also gets a lot of ideas she can incorporate into her American Federal Government lectures from watching students participate, Petty said. In the past, the watch parties have attracted insightful students, she said.
Lauren Schueler, adviser for the Civic Engagement Fellows, is helping coordinate the event. She said the watch party is an open event and that students should learn more about the political process.
A Facebook page called OU Votes has been set up to share information about the voting process, and a booth will be set up on the South Oval for sharing information Tuesday, Hobson said.
Students should take an interest in local politics and be politically active, Hobson said.
“Even if you’re not from Oklahoma,” Hobson said, “the politics here affect you.”
