The congressional election year is upon us once again, and with it comes the task of getting students registered to vote.
On the ballot this year will be many candidates running for various two-year-term as well as four-year-term positions for the state of Oregon, as well as different measures. Those categories and number of positions include the following: one U.S. senator, five state representatives in Congress, the state governor, 23 state senators, 60 state representatives, 10 judges and two district attorneys.
The state of Oregon will be mailing each registered voter two volumes of information to aide in clarifying measures and candidate platforms, both due to arrive in mailboxes by Oct. 18. Volume one will contain details about the measures and volume two will pertain to the candidates, providing information on their professional backgrounds and goals for while in office.
As some may have witnessed Wednesday of this week, Bill Bradbury, a democrat running for U.S. Senate, gave a speech in the College of Urban and Public Affairs’ second-floor lobby presenting his views about action against Iraq. He spoke against hastily invading Iraq without first attempting to diplomatically resolve the issues of threat.
Bradbury, as well as Gordon Smith, the Republican running for the same position, have both served four years in the state Senate and have eight years of eligibility remaining for official service.
In competition for Gov. Kitzhaber’s job are Ted Kulongoski (D), Kevin Mannix (R), Tom Cox (Lib), and two independent party candidates. Both Cox and Mannix ran for Oregon’s attorney general position in 2000 and lost to Hardy Myers. Some critics have accused Cox of narcissistic intentions in his campaign, claiming that he stands no chance against Mannix or Kulongoski and is merely promoting his ideologies at a high expense.
Students associated with ASPSU would like to see a resurgence in voter participation among the student body this year at Portland State. All members, including interns, have been seeking unregistered students in order to get them eligible for the Nov. 5th election.
Kristin Wallace, student body president, registered 56 people on Wednesday, and ASPSU’s 14 interns made it a goal to average 30 new registered students each between Monday and today.
Adam Zavala, communications director for ASPSU, wants to see a positive trend of increased political interest among students.
“There is a plague of apathy among students when it comes to voting,” Zavala said. “Not enough students vote. It is important for college-aged people to vote because that shows the political leaders that we are watching and they will have to consider us more when legislating. Otherwise, our interests are overlooked.”
National statistics parallel what Zavala is referring to.
Data drawn from the 1994 and 1998 congressional elections nationwide show the disparity between young and old voters. Out of the 50.7 million citizens aged 18-24, only 39.4 percent were registered to vote and a smaller 16.4 percent made it to the ballot boxes in those two years. That is in comparison to the 166 million people aged 25-44, where 57.4 percent registered and 36.7 percent voted. And out of the 171.7 million aged 45 and older, 73.2 percent registered, with a 57.4 percent turnout.
Other data, taken from 1998 election statistics, concentrates on 18- 24-year-olds with one to three years of college education. Of the 9,990,000 students, 50.8 percent were registered, with 23.4 percent eventually casting votes. In 1996, 18- 24-year-olds made up only 7.62 percent of the total U.S. vote.
The deadline for registering to vote is Oct. 15. Ballots will be mailed to those registered between Oct. 18 and Oct. 22. Voting will take place on Nov. 5th, with results due out on Dec. 31. A ballot box will be located again this year in front of Subway in the Smith Memorial Student Union.
ASPSU is strongly considering an open presentation of what each candidate brings to the table, sometime after the registration deadline.
“We want to make it clear to all who are interested just what exactly each candidate and measure’s intentions are, in plain, easy-to-understand English,” Zavala said.