The Final Push for the Young Vote

By Chadwick Bowman

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — CSU student government touts the fact that they were able to register 2,330 students for this year’s mid-term elections. The Associated Students of Colorado State University has partnered with the national young voter awareness program, Rock the Vote, and hopes that students cast ballots en masse, such as we saw in the 2008 presidential election.

"We're clearly at a crossroads and a defining point in our country,” said Chase Eckerdt, Director of Community Affairs for ASCSU. “Students can really influence the outcome of that."  

This year’s ballots affect young generations with candidates focused on issues such as the national student loan programs, financial allocations for higher education and the concern over a national increasing debt, where the future generations will foot the bill.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Michael Bennet has spent time on the campaign trail motivating students to vote. He appeared on campus in the Lory Student Center Plaza last month to stump his platform issues that affect students.

“There couldn’t be any more important reasons for students to vote,” Bennet said. “I hope students will come out all across the state. Every single vote is going to count in this election.”

Bennet hopes to ensure a future of good high paying jobs. The economy and jobs are at the forefront of student’s concerns this year.

“I will vote for the candidate that assures me most that I will have a job when I graduate,” said Courtney Stuard, a senior journalism major.

According to political science professor at CSU, Dr. Scott Moore, young voters do not participate in high numbers in mid-term elections, and each new cohort of voters produces a more moderate electorate. This will force politicians to make decisions as to whether they want to campaign to appeal to the young swing voters or to write off them off as apathetic participants.

Across the country, the push to get young voters involved has been multi-faceted. Rock the Vote uses online social networks—which are flooded with young users—to communicate and organize. Newspapers such as the Denver Post and the CSU’s student-run paper The Rocky Mountain Collegian are valuable resources to the Rock the Vote campaign.

“Outside of the media and social networks, Rock the Vote also interacts with young people through good old peer-to-peer contact,” said Ian Doran, spokesperson for Rock the Vote. “We have a group of volunteers spreading Rock the Vote's message and encouraging young people to vote.”

ASCSU and Rock the Vote both say that the challenge of student participation is getting students registered, especially in Colorado. Colorado’s voting laws make it difficult to register compared to other states. In Colorado you must be registered 29 days prior to Election Day, unlike Minnesota which has same-day registration, and North Dakota which requires no registration.

However, Colorado makes it easy to actually cast ballots with their no-excuse absentee balloting program. Colorado offers mail-in voting and other forms of non-traditional polling place voting.

ASCSU and involved students express that the concern and implications are too great for students to avoid participation.

“There will be significant economic decisions made in the next few years,” said Stuard. “We need to show that we care.”