2008 Woodie Awards
Take a day
Canceled classes do not guarantee voter turnout
Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: Voices
One of the reasons given for low turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds is that they go to college and then aren't able to get an absentee ballot because it's too difficult or aren't able to make it to the polls because they're too busy.
A solution offered by Student Government Association members suggests that students could have no classes on Election Day so they'd go home and vote.
None of these assumptions are based in reality. A major study of college student presidential election voting behavior during the 2004 contest showed that 77 percent of college students said they voted, twice what their non-college peers said. Only 5 percent of students said getting an absentee ballot was difficult or fairly difficult, first-timers reported no more difficulty than repeat absentee voters.
So despite being busy, college students do pretty well at getting to the polls as is and report that absentee ballots aren't too hard to figure out. So would more students vote if they had the day off? No, not necessarily.
Supporters of a national day off tend to ignore peer pressure. That's why millions of the "I voted" stickers gum up nice suits, blouses and hoodies every November to get in line.
It's working, because in the last three national elections more and more students have voted. The majority of states having primaries this year reported record turnout, none of them had a weekday off. Student turnout was amazing in most of those states, even when they had class.
Why don't SGA members instead use their political and social acumen to get as many students as possible to register in Isabella County? Students can change their voter registration to Mount Pleasant up to 30 days before the election.
The SGA resolution offers one way forward with its increasingly predictable call for a day off. But a less contentious approach would actually give CMU students (and SGA's city liaison) more political clout.
Take a day, think about it.
A solution offered by Student Government Association members suggests that students could have no classes on Election Day so they'd go home and vote.
None of these assumptions are based in reality. A major study of college student presidential election voting behavior during the 2004 contest showed that 77 percent of college students said they voted, twice what their non-college peers said. Only 5 percent of students said getting an absentee ballot was difficult or fairly difficult, first-timers reported no more difficulty than repeat absentee voters.
So despite being busy, college students do pretty well at getting to the polls as is and report that absentee ballots aren't too hard to figure out. So would more students vote if they had the day off? No, not necessarily.
Supporters of a national day off tend to ignore peer pressure. That's why millions of the "I voted" stickers gum up nice suits, blouses and hoodies every November to get in line.
It's working, because in the last three national elections more and more students have voted. The majority of states having primaries this year reported record turnout, none of them had a weekday off. Student turnout was amazing in most of those states, even when they had class.
Why don't SGA members instead use their political and social acumen to get as many students as possible to register in Isabella County? Students can change their voter registration to Mount Pleasant up to 30 days before the election.
The SGA resolution offers one way forward with its increasingly predictable call for a day off. But a less contentious approach would actually give CMU students (and SGA's city liaison) more political clout.
Take a day, think about it.
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