By Adam Hinton And Matt Morris
Survey reveals less than half of eligible U of L students will cast a vote today
Just how much do U of L students care about the upcoming election? How many are even going to bother voting? Nationwide, voter participation has been a concern, so is it any different on campus? The Cardinal talked to students to find out how they feel about this year’s election and if they plan on taking an active role in the voting process.
The Cardinal asked sixty students about whether or not they were registered, if they planned on voting, and what party they were registered under. Forty-six students of the 60 are registered. However, only 24 of them said that they plan on voting in this year’s election. Many students, such as freshman Julie Bell, admit that they are not following the races. Julie said, “I’m not a political person. I don’t know anything about it.” For some students who are from areas other than Louisville, absentee ballots are their way to make it to the polls. Several of these students, though, feel that the absentee ballots are difficult to deal with. Daniel Johnsen, a sophomore majoring in computer information systems, said, “In order to vote, I have to obtain an absentee ballot. This process is very difficult and is not conducive to the democratic process.”
Another topic of interest in this year’s elections is the volume of negative advertisements. Many students are more or less annoyed by the petty smear campaigns, and they refrain from voting as a result. Tony Robinson, among others, commented on his dislike for this campaigning strategy. He also made another good point about the election, saying, “It’s an election about nothing.” This has some truth to it, when one considers that the House and Senate are very close in representation by both parties. In effect, neither side wants to stick their neck out on an issue. By playing it safe and riding the fence on so many issues, the parties and their candidates are leaving the American people with little on which to judge the candidate and make a decision.
One aspect of the campaign strategy used by local officials was visiting the campus. Senior psychology major Zsuzsi Lorincz commented, “There’s a few people that have made an effort to be on campus, and I think that’s great, like Jack Conway.” For a politician to overlook such a huge constituency as a college campus, filled with the people that will soon be running this country, seems to be a blunder that U of L students aren’t quick to forgive.
While the majority of students surveyed were at least familiar with the major races and the candidates involved, not a single person seemed to have any knowledge of the multitude of smaller races that will appear on the back of the ballot next Tuesday. Over 20 District Court seats will be in contest on Tuesday, as well as two potential amendments to the state constitution. These races have traditionally received little to no attention or voter response; judging from the response of the campus, this year will be no different.
Political party preferences were also discussed with students to get a feel for any trends, since many people are very loyal to one party and vote straight on that ticket. Out of the 46 students interviewed that were registered, six associated themselves with the Independent Party, 18 people were registered Republicans, and the Democrats were the dominant political party with 22 people registered. However, none of the students interviewed that were registered as Democrats or Republicans planned to vote a straight ticket for one party or the other.
Of course, college students do tend to prepare for many things, such as exams. Cramming at the last minute is an art that is perfected in college. Matt Orr said that he planned on having a voting party this weekend to discuss the issues and the candidates so that he and his friends could decide who to vote for. Don’t rule the college population out in this coming election. The students will be cramming up until Tuesday for the big event.
