With just over 5 weeks until election day, University of New Hampshire’s College Democrats is working hard to meet their goal of commit to votes (CTV’s). Various events planned for the upcoming month may push UNH to lead all the New Hampshire colleges in number of CTV’s.
The Commit To Vote campaign is a nationwide push to register as many voters as possible. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 29 percent of U.S. citizens were not registered to vote in the last presidential election.
“New Hampshire is a different state from most states in that volunteers can’t register voters,” said leader of UNH College Democrats, Tegan O’Neill, “so we want to know who’s voting, and we want to have a way to contact them and make sure they’re registered.”
The members of UNH College Democrats have multiple ways of getting CTV’s. They will be tabling Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
At tabling events, volunteers set up tables around the UNH campus. They provide voter registration information to students, and have them sign CTV forms.
UNH College Democrats provides incentives for students to get more information. During tabling, they often serve grilled cheese sandwiches and hot apple cider.
“So far we’ve gotten thousands of UNH students to commit to vote,” said President of College Democrats, Maria Carrasquillo, “and we’re a couple hundred away from hitting our goal.” Carrasquillo was not allowed to provide specific numbers for CTV’s.
With every N.H. school trying to reel in as many CTV’s as possible before Nov. 6, UNH has entered into an unofficial, friendly competition with Dartmouth College. Dartmouth’s College Democrats is currently in first place for number of CTV’s, with UNH close behind.
Dartmouth pulled ahead after receiving a recent visit from Vice President Joe Biden. UNH began closing the gap after actor Kal Penn came to UNH to trump for Obama on Sept. 18. UNH’s College Democrats hope to pull ahead in the rivalry with a visit from U.S. cabinet member Kathleen Sebelius on Friday.
UNH College Democrats have been offered a prize from N.H. youth vote director Ben Wessel, if they pull ahead by election day.
“He [Wessel] jokingly at first offered to let us shave his beard in whatever way we want,” said O’Neill, “but then it became legitimate. If we win were shaving ‘WILDCATS’ into his face.”
Despite the humorous motivation, UNH College Democrats are driven by a more serious motto: “At the end of the day,” said Carrasquillo, “we just want students to vote, and to know that it’s important and that it makes a difference in their country.”
UNH College Democrats are also working hard with UNH College Republicans. Even though they have different goals, they share a common belief.
“We’re all civil,” said Carrasquillo. “We do a lot of stuff together because at the end of the day both of our groups just want people to vote, and we do all that we can together to meet that goal. Working for different campaigns we go about it differently, but we still share the common goal.”
Many students however, feel that both groups need to do more to educate potential voters.
“I know so many people who vote a certain way because someone else told them to,” said Jess Nichols, UNH senior and registered Democrat. “I feel that people should make a point to get educated on the issues before voting.”
Because N.H. is a swing state, the push for CTV’s becomes most important to political organizations.
“It is only important to vote when the voter has done their homework,” said Sarah Shannon, a Pennsylvania State University graduate with a degree in political science. “It is the responsibility of each voting citizen to be informed regarding the candidates platforms and records.”
UNH College Democrats recognizes the importance of voters being educated, and they are making a bigger strive to provide information this year than they have in the past.
The organization will be hosting debate parties, during which students can convene in the student center to watch and discuss the political debates. They will also continue canvassing and holding student discussions in the weeks leading up to election day.
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