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The 2008 presidential race is proving to be historic for many reasons: It’s the first presidential race since 1928 to see neither an incumbent president nor vice president running for office, the first to see a black man become a presidential nominee for a major party and only the second to see a woman become a vice-presidential nominee. It’s the first election in 19 years that has not seen a Bush or a Clinton win a presidential nomination bid and the first year in which members of Generation Y will be able to cast their votes for president of the United States.
The buzz word of both major campaigns in this race for the White House has been “change.” And the people both candidates hope to woo with that word are the youth of America. News media from Fox News to CNN have been lauding the youth vote as having the possibility to majorly impact the outcome of the election.
Cameron Fure, president of the NMU College Democrats,
also believes the youth vote has the potential to greatly impact who the next U.S. president will be.
“If we all got together as a group, young people, and voted, the government would be drastically different than it is now,” he said.
The College Democrats have been operating under this ideal since the beginning of the semester and have been trying to register as many Northern students to vote as possible
before the Oct. 6 voter registration deadline.
With tables set up outside of Starbucks in the LRC every
Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., the group hopes to register every Northern student who hasn’t already done so. At press, the group has registered 507 people.
Starting this week, the Associated Students of Northern Michigan University (ASNMU) will also sponsor a registration
table set up outside of the Wildcat Den every Monday
from 4-7 p.m. Stephen Baumer, a junior biochemistry major and member of the College Democrats, worked the table on its first day of operation, Sept. 15.
“The college population could have a large swing vote in the election. We want to get young people involved in the political process,” he said. “It’s exciting from both sides’ view. This election will mean a lot. I don’t care whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, this election will have an impact on our future.”
Jordan Schwarz, president of the College Republicans, also stressed how important Michigan would be in deciding
the next president.
“In Michigan, those votes are going to count . It’s a big swing state in this election, so actually, every vote does count,” he said. “This election, it’s going to be pretty close, and I think that that’s showing in the polls.”
NMU’s College Democrats will also play host to the Michigan Federation of College Democrats on Oct. 1, where they will hold one last-ditch registration drive outside
of Jamrich Hall. Two local bands, Boogie Tank and Grass Monkey, have been booked along with Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, who is scheduled to speak.
“It’s a chance for students to directly engage with local politicians,” Fure said.
While the goal right now is to get as many students
registered as possible, ASNMU president
Hobie Webster said the next step is getting people to the polls in November.
“The point is getting people to vote. We want to get young people voting in higher numbers. Because then maybe, just maybe, we can get the politicians to listen to us,” he said.
The College Democrats are currently planning
on hosting several debate-watching parties throughout the month of October, where students
can get together to watch the presidential
candidates and the vice-presidential candidates discuss the major issues in this year’s election.
Other student political organizations are also beginning to organize events based around the upcoming election.
The Political
Review is hosting its second
debate between
the College Democrats and the College Republicans on Oct. 15. The group put on the same event last year, and Fure said he hoped that with the 2008 election looming, attendance for this year’s debate will be higher.
While the youth vote may or may not have a significant impact on who will be sitting in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, no one can deny that the coming year will bring with it major changes in the federal government.
“Young people have to realize that the next president is going to set the tone for the rest of the world, not just here in America, but what happens in the next 10 to 20 years,” Fure said. “From selecting Supreme Court justices who can potentially have an effect on Roe v. Wade . [to setting]
the federal revenue sharing for college tuition, Pell grants, things like that affect students directly, [or] in a couple of years when students get out there in the real world and have to buy a house . and get a loan or a mortgage, all of those interest rates are affected by the federal government.”
While many students will have these things in mind as they decide who will earn their votes for president, the hope right now is that those students will actually show up on Nov. 4.
“You can register,” Baumer
said, “But if you don’t vote it won’t do any good.”
2008 Voter’s Guide
Registering to vote is ofeten considered a daunting task, when in reality, it can be a pretty simple endeavor. Here are a few pointers on registering to vote and obtaining an absentee ballot
Getting an Absentee Ballot
Many Northern students come to Marquette from other cities and states. In the case of these students, an absentee ballot may be the best way to go for anyone wishing to vote in the presidential
election.
There are several ways to obtain an absentee ballot.
First of all, you must be a registered voter to even request an absentee ballot. If you’ve already registered, you can go to your local city clerk’s office and pick up an application for an absentee ballot, or you can visit http://www.michigan.gov/sos and download
a request form from the Michigan Secretary of State Web site.
You must fill out the request form and send it back to the clerk’s office no later than 2 p.m. on the Saturday before the election
you wish to vote in is held. In the case of the presidential election, all request forms for absentee ballots must be in their respective clerk’s offices by 2 p.m. on Nov. 1.
However, you may also request an emergency absentee ballot
if something unforeseen, such as a family death or an unexpected
illness, prevents you from reaching your polling place on Election Day. Requests for these ballots should be submitted after the deadline for requests for regular absentee ballots passes. Your local clerk will have more information about emergency absentee
ballots, should you need one.
Once your request for an absentee ballot is processed,
a ballot will be sent to you through the mail. You will then have until 8 p.m. to cast your vote and have your ballot back to the clerk’s office. When you mail the ballot back to your clerk’s office, you must sign the return envelope as well, or your vote will not be counted.
Registering to Vote
According to the Secretary of State Web site, in Michigan, citizens can register to vote for federal, state and local elections by visiting any Secretary of State branch office, visiting your county or city clerk office,
or through the mail.
Anyone wishing to vote must register at least 30 days prior to the election. The voter registration deadline for the 2008 presidential election is Oct. 6.
Michigan law requires four basic things of anyone wishing to register to vote: You must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age, a Michigan resident and a resident of the city or township where you are applying
to register to vote.
Also, any first-time voter must vote in person in their designated polling place. So, first-time voters cannot vote absentee
unless they registered in person. This means any students who sent a mail-in registration
form and are voting for the first time must return to their hometowns to cast their votes on Nov. 4.
If you can’t make it over to the Secretary
of State office to register, don’t worry; several registration tables will be set up on campus until the Oct. 6 deadline. The Associated
Students of NMU sponsors a registration
table outside of the Wildcat Den on Mondays from 4-7 p.m. and the College Democrats sponsor tables every Tuesday and Thursday outside of Starbucks from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
