Campus program engages students in voting process

Originally Posted on The Maine Campus via UWIRE

With the 2014 election season underway, UMaine is ensuring that students are being provided with non-partisan voter registration and voter education resources that cater to a college lifestyle.

“We want everyone to vote, that’s our main thing and we want that to be achieved in a fair and nonpartisan way,” said Lauri Sidelko, director of the Student Wellness Resource Center.

UMaine UVote, a nonpartisan voter education program, functions in two parts, first as a voter registration campaign that sponsors registration drives across campus, and second as an education resource that provides students with the information necessary to make an educated decision on Election Day.

The program, which has been in operation for over 15 years, has been out in full force since the start of the semester, trying to get as many students registered to vote as possible before the Oct. 14 pre-registration cut off date.

UVote staff is also seeking to clear up any confusion surrounding the voter registration process.

“The whole goal in all of this is to try and make the process a little clearer and a little easier so that it will encourage students to vote,” Sidelko said.

While many students are registered to vote, if they have moved since the last time they registered, they must re-register with their new address. This is a common mistake made by college students who typically move from year to year.

“Our No. 2 question after ‘Are you registered to vote?’ is ‘Did you move this year?’” Sidelko said. “With the first time voters, the 18-year-olds that don’t live on campus, we want to make sure they know where to vote.

If students live on campus and have the University’s 04469 zip code, they may vote at the on-campus polling site. If students live off campus, UVote is recommending they check RocktheVote.com to find their respective polling locations.

From experience Sidelko said that it’s technicalities like specific polling locations that often discourage students to vote. In the campus world students live in, “navigating a busy Tuesday” can be a challenge all its own.

“It’s not that students are not engaged with [voting], it’s not a luxury that they can necessarily put at the top of their priority list at that moment, especially if they’ve never done it before,” Sidelko said.

This is why UVote seeks to provide students with all resources necessary to make the process as simple and effective as possible. Once voter registration cards can no longer be submitted, the voter education phase of UVote begins.

Though UVote seeks to provide educational resources to allow students to learn about the issues or candidates they will have to vote on, UVote does not create their own informational content in order to remain a nonpartisan program.

“If people want to find out about the issues we send them to the state website or the local government websites because we won’t put down one side of an issue without putting down information about both sides,” Sidelko said.

Instead, UVote will provide students a copy of the ballot, if possible, prior to Election Day so they are able to conduct their own research and form their own views before they actually have to vote.

“We want them to be able to see a ballot if at all possible before they get to the polls so they’re not confused when they get there and say ‘Oh, well I didn’t realize [I] had to vote for Town Council, what does that mean?’” Sidelko said.

 

UVote will be collecting voter registration cards until Oct. 10, at which point they will be sent to the Orono Town Office. While same day voter registration is available in Maine, Sidelko encourages students to register beforehand. Election Day is Nov. 4.

 

For more information on voter registration or voter education go to umaine.edu/studentlife/uvote.

Read more here: http://mainecampus.com/2014/10/05/campus-program-engages-students-in-voting-process/
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