Students prepare to get out vote

Students from colleges around the Pittsburgh area met in David Lawrence Hall yesterday… Students from colleges around the Pittsburgh area met in David Lawrence Hall yesterday afternoon to discuss strategies to increase youth voting at the first-ever Student Power Rules event.

“Power is made up of two elements in the political world: money and people. In 2008, the youth vote has a lot of power,” Mikhail Pappas, director of field and policy for the Pennsylvania League of Young Voters, said.

Pappas hosted the event for the League of Young Voters, where he addressed the misconceptions student voters often face. Pappas said that students face many implicit barriers when trying to vote, including imitation.

“For the first time, a campaign is putting money towards first-time voters,” he said of Barack Obama’s campaign strategy.

“Usually, candidates just go after longtime voters, but this year, that’s all changing,” Pappas said.

Pappas said that out-of-state students might still vote in Pennsylvania as long as they register to vote here.

He also said that registering to vote in the state where you attend school will not affect your residency status in your home state, including any scholarships or insurance perks you receive from having residency in a different state.

The event started with spoken word artist Vanessa German – who won the 2004 National Slam Bush Competition.

She performed a portion of her winning poem titled “Thank you,” which began with the stanza “This is my thank you poem to George motherf-ing Bush.”

After German’s performance the group of 12 students reassembled to practice registering others to vote.

“The only way to change something is to go out and vote,” Pitt senior Carrie Lewis said as she mock-registered a skeptical new voter. “This is the way to fix a broken system.”

The Pa. League of Young Voters – whose logo features the Statue of Liberty brandishing a baseball bat – will soon launch a program in the Pittsburgh Area called Big Local 2008, where the group will attempt to increase young voter turnout statewide by having all of their local branches try to spread influence.

“Big Local 2008 will set the stage by transforming a significant number of young people who care about politics into a movement of young voters who understand politics and know how to shape public policy,” Pappas said.

Those in attendance – including students from Chatham College, Carlow University and Pitt – then shared ideas on how to increase student turnout for the April 22 presidential Primary in Pennsylvania. Ideas included parties to excite students to vote, and “dorm storms.”

According to Pappas, dorm storms are the most effective way to get students to vote because of the direct person-to-person contact they entail. Pappas plans to train Pitt Residence Directors to train their RAs to dorm storm for election day.

“The Litchfield Towers are the largest voting precinct in the city of Pittsburgh,” Pappas said.

While the current goal of the young organization is to increase voter turnout among young voters, Pappas also passed out surveys asking questions regarding opinions on the death penalty, abortion and the war in Iraq.

“We’re still formulating a policy platform,” Pappas said of his organization’s forming agenda.

Pappas concluded the meeting by encouraging his listeners to meet weekly to share future plans.

“Every vote matters,” Pappas said, “but a lot of votes is what gets things done.”