ASI Lobby Corps works to get vote out

Published October 10, 2016

There’s plenty at stake in the November elections and Associated Students, Inc. is working to make sure everyone on the Cal State Long Beach campus is registered to vote. As part of the California Students Vote Project, tables have been set up at various places around campus for the past three weeks where students and faculty can sign up and make sure their vote counts.

According to the California Secretary of State’s office, more than 18.2 million are registered to vote in the upcoming elections.

“A lot of students say they are already registered to vote or they say they don’t want to vote in the presidential race,” said Alex Bellenger, ASI Lobby Corps secretary of city affairs. “But we are encouraging them to register and vote on the many propositions and the senate race.”

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are vying for the country’s top office and Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez are looking to fill the vacancy left by the retiring Barbara Boxer.

Among the key state propositions is the legalization of marijuana, whether to repeal/alter the death penalty, gun control and ban on single-use plastic bags.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla recently announced a partnership between his office, the CSU system and California State Student Association (CSSA) via a memorandum of understanding that supports student voter registration and education efforts across the state. The partnership encourages all 23 CSU schools and eight off-campus centers to participate in the California Students Vote project.

Volunteers will be on campus October 18 (in front of the library) and October 24 (On the second floor of the USU) to register people to vote before the sign up deadline.