A national survey performed by The Chronicle and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University revealed that few colleges surveyed were in strict compliance with the laws. According to The Chronicle, only 49 percent of the colleges acquired the voter registration forms, and only 16.8 percent had the registration forms 120 days before the local deadline. Nearly 35 percent of colleges neither acquired the necessary forms nor made them available to students.
To fill the void, many student-run organizations on campuses across the nation have taken an active role in distributing forms and getting students involved in the political process. At the College, the College Republicans and Democrats, as well as other organizations like Amherst Students for John Kerry, MassPIRG and the School Voting Initiative, have taken the lead.
According to Liz Hunt '06, members of the School Voting Initiative are tabling in the campus center to encourage students to register to vote. Their efforts are an attempt to fight youth apathy.
The College Democrats have been an active force in distributing absentee ballots on campus, particularly to students who have permanent residences in swing states and canvassing in New Hampshire, a key swing state. The College Republicans plan to become more active as the election nears by urging students to cast informed votes and by canvassing permanently in Maine, another swing state.
"The biggest thing that the Democrats are doing to get people voting is a dorm storm campaign this week," said Rosalyn Foster '05, the events coordinator of the College Democrats. "We are going to all the dorms this week to check if [students] are registered to vote and provide them with absentee ballot information on a massive scale. If they are not registered, they will be able to request absentee ballots for their respective home states."
For the Democrats, registering students in their home states is crucial. "We're trying to register people in their home states for a couple of reasons," said Kate Stayman-London '05, head of the Amherst Students for John Kerry. "First, many students come from presidential swing states, and we need their votes to help elect John Kerry much more in those states than we do in Massachusetts. Second, most students know and care much more about local issues in their hometowns than they do about local issues here."
Part of the problem is that registering in Massachusetts is not an easy task. "You can't register using your campus box, which means you have to use your dorm address, which means you have to change your address every year," said Stayman-London. "You have to E-mail the town clerk. If you don't, particularly if you're a Democrat, it's likely your vote will be challenged and nullified."
MassPIRG, the other major liberal organization on campus, has been distributing voter registration forms to students with the intention of registering them in Massachusetts. Many Democrats are outraged at this, because Massachusetts is already a primarily Democratic state.
"MassPIRG is a non-partisan organization," explained Rob Cobbs '06, a member of MassPIRG. "We are not concerned with which way people vote, we just want them to vote."
According to Cobbs, MassPIRG's main effort is to get students to vote, which they are more likely to do at local polling places. "People are much more likely to vote at the actual polls than by absentee ballot," he said. "Furthermore, many states don't count absentee ballots unless there is a tie. We want to make young people a viable voting block-right now, politicians cater to senior citizens. If young people go to the polls in large numbers, politicians will be forced to pay attention to issues that matter to us: the environment, higher education and jobs."
The College Republicans have also been involved in the voting drive, and plan to be far more active as the election approaches.
"We'll be canvassing the campus as the election nears, helping people obtain absentee ballots and trying to convince them to vote against Kerry," said Ethan Davis '05, president of the College Republicans.
Davis' highest priority is having students cast informed votes. "I think massive voter registration efforts are wrong if the people involved do not also urge students to understand what they are voting for," said Davis. "One incurs certain obligations when one casts a vote, and it ought not be done blindly. I can't think of anything more repugnant to a republic than the abdication of one's voting responsibilities-not by refusing to cast a vote, but by casting an uninformed one."
Like Stayman-London, Davis does not approve of MassPIRG's efforts. "From a purely strategical perspective, MassPIRG must see an increase in voter turnout as an end in itself if it insists that students register in Massachusetts," he said. "And as I've said, that's a position devoid of any recognition of the moral responsibilities we incur when we cast a vote. At least the [College] Democrats have an objective in mind."