Voter registration drive exceeds expectations
Over 650 students registered to vote over the past three weeks to be able to participate in national, state and Baldwin County elections, according to officials. This number does not include those who registered at the county courthouse.
The registrations were held at sorority chapter meetings including Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Zeta, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha; fraternity chapter meetings including Delta Sigma Phi, Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Alpha; select apartment complexes comprising Bellamy, College Station and the Grove; at College Republican and Young Democrat meetings and on campus near the fountain.
Claire Cantrell, a junior sociology major, helped lead the events and expressed that the purpose was much more than just getting people registered to vote.
“(We want) to raise awareness amongst students of how important it is that they register in Baldwin County,” Cantrell said. “By living in Milledgeville, we have a great opportunity to have a voice in what goes on in local politics. My hope is that by registering to vote here more of our students will become engaged in the goings-on of the place they call home.”
Some students felt that it just made sense to register to vote here in Baldwin County. Tyler Mabe, a junior exercise science major, echoed this idea.
“I live (in Milledgeville) now,” Mabe said. “(Milledgeville) is where I’m going to be since I don’t go home a lot.”
However, the voter registration drive attracted more than just students on campus. Matt Martin, director of Wesley, also registered to vote on campus at the fountain.
“(Registering on campus) was out of convenience,” Martin said.
The turnout surpassed the expectations of Cantrell and the other volunteers for the event.
“When we originally began talking about voter registration, I would have been thrilled with 150 registrations,” Cantrell said. “The fact that over 10 percent of our students registered in three weeks time is monumental. The positive response I have gotten – not only from students, but also faculty and local residents – makes me feel confident that the event was more successful than I could have imagined.”
The registration drive was held from Sept. 13 through Oct. 2, excluding Saturdays.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State Web site, all citizens must have been registered to vote by Oct. 5 to be able to participate in the Nov. 3 election. For those registered to vote in Georgia and who wish to know more information, visit http://sos.ga.gov/elections.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 9 2009. Filed under News.
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