Experts urge students to vote for more than presidents

Pitt students who are registered to vote this election day, Nov. 4, may fill out an absentee ballot or will vote in person at their local polling place. If, that is, they can even be bothered to do so.

Ron Ruman, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said the turnout of young voters usually remains low, except during presidential election years.

“It’s unfortunate that college students don’t really get involved unless it’s a national election,” Ruman said. “The issues they can vote on Nov. 4 are the ones that will affect them on a day-to-day and intimate level.”

Although 2014 is not a presidential election year, the results of this midterm election will affect Pitt students. They will determine the state’s governor, lieutenant governor and congressional representatives, as well as who will serve in Harrisburg. 

Democrat Tom Wolf is running against Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who is running for a second term.

In Allegheny County, registered voters in the 18-to-24-year-old demographic make up only 8 percent of total registered voters —about 68,000 out of more than 880,000 — according to Pennsylvania Department of State Voter Registration Statistics as of Oct. 20. Undergraduate students are typically in this age demographic.

Undergraduates would want to have a say in certain issues: Pennsylvania’s liquor laws, minimum age to obtain a driver’s license and how often the streets are plowed, according to Ruman. He said if students want to voice their opinions or frustrations, they should vote for state and local government, not just the president.

Despite the low voter registration numbers among young people, political groups at Pitt are enthusiastic about the upcoming election.

Ernest Rajakone said that Pitt College Democrats were involved even before voter registration applications were due on Oct. 6. 

“We registered members at meetings,” said Rajakone, president of the organization and a senior political science major. “We also had applications at the activities fair and participated in registration drives for [Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Tom Wolf’s campaign. We tried to reach out to as many people on campus as possible.” 

Rajakone said it’s important for student voices to be heard, especially since it’s common for young people to feel like they are powerless. 

“I think there’s a lot of disillusion with the government, but we have the ability to speak up, and we need to exercise it,” he said. “Staying on top of politics isn’t the most exciting thing to do, but it is our civic duty.” 

Rajakone agrees that the economy is a hot topic this year and that students should take note. 

“Jobs matter. We’ll all eventually be leaving this campus — some of us really soon. We’re going to need to enter the job force, and a good economy is something we need in order for that to be a possibility,” Rajakone said.

Cameron Linton, president of Pitt College Republicans, said voters should think less of their individual circumstances when voting for representation. 

“I don’t think of politics in terms of what’s best for me or what’s best for Pitt students,” said Linton, a junior economics and political science major. “How about what’s best for everyone in Pennsylvania? If government is going to exist, it should be what’s in the best interest of everybody. Just because something may not be in your own best interest doesn’t mean it’s not in the best interest for others.”

He said that’s why his organization did not encourage student voter registration because, in his opinion, students would be more likely to vote against the interests of Pitt College Republicans.

“It would have been counterproductive to encourage people on campus to register,” he said. “Nine out of 10 students would probably vote Democrat rather than Republican.”

Linton says all the members in College Republicans, who are likely to vote Republican, are registered to vote, either in Allegheny County or by absentee ballot.

Antonio Diaz-Guy, the president of Pitt Students for Liberty, a libertarian group, said that being registered to vote and actually voting have two different meanings for the members of his organization.

“Voting is often a contentious topic among liberty-minded individuals,” said Diaz-Guy, a senior economics and philosophy major. “On the one hand, we have members that believe the best way to bring about change is to work within the current system and elect responsible candidates. On the other hand, some of our members see the current political process as fundamentally flawed.”