Participation in a Mississippi State voter registration drive exceeded expectations over its two-day run this week.
Hosted by the MSU Student Association, in cooperation with 10 campus organizations, the drive registered as many as 1,800 students Tuesday and Wednesday, according to organizers.
Betty Thomas, co-director of SA community and government relations, attributes the drive’s success to the involvement of so many campus organizations, many of which have led their own drives in the past. Thomas said by working together, the organizations expanded the scope of the drive with longer hours and more locations.
“A lot of groups that you would not normally see together were able to come together and register their fellow students to vote,” she said.
Thomas said though yearly on-campus drives register as few as 100 voters, registration peaks before every presidential election. Still, she said she was surprised by the response, with students eagerly waiting to register as volunteers set up tables at the drive’s eight sites across campus Tuesday morning.
In addition to bolstering registration among college students, a demographic typically underrepresented in elections, Thomas said the drive aimed to educate young people about their right to vote. She said many students believe they become registered by obtaining a driver’s license. Others just don’t go to the polls.
“According to the US Census Bureau, in the last [presidential] election only 38 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 voted,” Thomas said. “I just really think that’s a shame. These people are the ones this presidential election will affect the most.”
Nathan McMurray volunteered for the drive as part of the Lambda Sigma honor society. He said many students, especially those from out of state, were there to register with their local addresses.
“It will allow those out-of-state students to vote in Oktibbeha in the current election so they don’t have to go home and vote,” McMurray said.
Freshman Lauren Parks was among those to re-register in Oktibbeha County during the drive. As an 18-year-old first-time voter, Parks said she felt it was her duty to register and exercise her right. She said she feels the stakes are particularly high in 2016 presidential election between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
“Especially with the two people we have running, it’s been really important for me to pay attention to the political debates to [decide] who I’m going to vote for,” she said.
Parks said as a voter, the future of health care in America is particularly important to her because of the impact it will have for her and her family.
John David Bishop, a senior environmental economics major, also registered during the drive. As a first-time voter, Bishop said he is undecided and has been trying to take a balanced approach to while considering the presidential candidates.
“I get on Reddit and have Twitter and all that,” Bishop said. “I don’t follow left-wing or right-wing media specifically. I just try to stay in the middle.”
Bishop said he is excited to participate in the November election because he has taken a greater interest in politics since starting college.
“I feel like [since] registering, I have a voice,” he said. “It’s easy to complain about something, but when you’re actually voting you have more of a right to complain.”
Thomas said though she believes many registered students like Parks and Bishop are exclusively concerned with the presidential election, she thinks this year’s consolidated effort could translate into greater representation in state and local elections moving forward.
MUW drives
At Mississippi University for Women, one registration event was held Tuesday while another is scheduled for next week.
On Tuesday, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority held a voter information/registration booth at the cafeteria lobby that garnered 15 new voters.
“Our goal was really to provide information to students and let them know that their votes counts rather than a registration drive,” said Regan Gathings, one of the event’s organizers. “So we were pleased with how it turned out.”
The MUW’s Young Democrats will hold at voter registration drive from 11:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Oct. 5 at The W Room in the Hogarth Student Union.
Reporter Slim Smith contributed to this article.
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