Students register to vote by the thousands
Steven Williamson / News Editor
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Page One
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New Jersey Public Interest Research Groups Student Chapters registered over 2,200 students to vote at the University last week and over 2,750 across the state in a mass effort to increase student involvement in the upcoming statewide election.
The lengthy event, titled Voter Registration Blitz Week, targeted unregistered students across the University in an attempt to increase participation in November's off-year election.
NJPIRG stopped students on the street and set up tables at several locations, including in front of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. They also ran onto buses and walked into certain classes in an effort to increase registration.
While the election, which focuses on local and state politicians, is not as widely publicized as next year's presidential election, the final number of registrations was high.
"The statewide election is always a little less well known, but we basically [received the same number of votes] as we did last year," said Sarah Clader, the NJPIRG board chair. "It's cool to have done the same thing two years in a row."
The organization set out to register over 1,000 voters on the College Avenue campus alone, a goal they met and exceeded. They also received help from other University based organizations, such as RU Voting, the Black Student Union and the College Avenue Campus Council.
The final numbers reflected those that took forms and filled them out on the spot, Clader said. They did not include those who took forms with them to mail them into the state personally.
She attributed some of the success of the registration drive to the widely publicized 2008 presidential campaign.
"Obviously the 2008 candidates [for the presidency] have been running for well over a year and it's all over the news," Clader said.
In addition to registering students to vote, some members helped civic-minded students to send a message to the 2008 candidates.
The lengthy event, titled Voter Registration Blitz Week, targeted unregistered students across the University in an attempt to increase participation in November's off-year election.
NJPIRG stopped students on the street and set up tables at several locations, including in front of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. They also ran onto buses and walked into certain classes in an effort to increase registration.
While the election, which focuses on local and state politicians, is not as widely publicized as next year's presidential election, the final number of registrations was high.
"The statewide election is always a little less well known, but we basically [received the same number of votes] as we did last year," said Sarah Clader, the NJPIRG board chair. "It's cool to have done the same thing two years in a row."
The organization set out to register over 1,000 voters on the College Avenue campus alone, a goal they met and exceeded. They also received help from other University based organizations, such as RU Voting, the Black Student Union and the College Avenue Campus Council.
The final numbers reflected those that took forms and filled them out on the spot, Clader said. They did not include those who took forms with them to mail them into the state personally.
She attributed some of the success of the registration drive to the widely publicized 2008 presidential campaign.
"Obviously the 2008 candidates [for the presidency] have been running for well over a year and it's all over the news," Clader said.
In addition to registering students to vote, some members helped civic-minded students to send a message to the 2008 candidates.