Voting
forms aim toward higher voter registration
By
Jillian Johnson
Daily Forty-Niner
The
2004 presidential elections are right around
the corner and Cal State Long Beach is doing
all it can to reach out and give students
the chance to vote.
Included
in the spring 2004 schedule of classes is
a registration form aimed to get students’
attention.
“We
would like to make sure everyone gets the
opportunity to vote,” said Margaret
Adamson, employee of the CSULB Bookstore.
By
federal law all colleges must put a form
inside its course catalog each time an election
draws near. So it’s not just CSULB
who is reaching out but also all colleges
across America.
But
will this registration form actually get
more students to vote or is it just going
to be thrown away after students are done
registering for their spring 2004 classes?
“I
think if it might encourage one person to
vote then it is a good idea to have in the
catalog,” said Sean Stidham, a communications
major.
One
vote does make a difference but some students
have said that the form was interfering
when trying to register.
“I
tore it out because it was getting in the
way,” said Scott Giles, a criminal
justice major. He explained that he was
already registered to vote.
Paula
Jones, director of communications for the
Center of Voting and Democracy, said she
hopes that students will stop and take the
time to fill out the voting form and send
it back to the secretary of state.
“College
students have a major impact on our current
voting system today, but we still need more
to get out there and vote,” she said.
With
higher tuition costs and cuts being made
to many education oriented programs, students
have become directly affected by Sacramento’s
politics.
“Everyone
always complains about tuition going up
but no one ever does anything about it,”
said Andrea Garcia, Spanish major.
Some
students said it is not that they don’t
care about their country but that they don’t
want to get a jury duty summons.
The
effect the voting forms will have on the
amount of students choosing to register
has not yet been determined.
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