It's Election Day, and college students around the country are casting votes right and left at their local churches, schools, and mailboxes - or maybe they're not.
In the 1996 presidential election, less than a third of the 18-to 24-year-old age group voted. Two years ago, in the congressional elections, only 15 percent voted. Youth voting has been falling ever since the 1972 presidential election, but here at Tufts, students as a whole seem excited about the upcoming election. The only question is, will they actually go out and vote?
At Tufts, where over 75 percent of the undergraduate population resides in states other than Massachusetts, many students vote by absentee ballot. Voting in today's election requires three things to happen. Students must register in their home state, request an absentee ballot, and ensure that the ballot is received in their home district by Election Day.
Though most students prefer to vote in their home district, registering here in Medford or Somerville is also an option. "I don't know anything about what's going on here," freshman Doug Smith said. "I'm also already registered [in New Jersey], so it would be a pain to re-register in Massachusetts."
Even though many Tufts students seem genuinely interested in the election, absentee voting isn't as easy as it seems. Many people don't realize that, in most states, they need to register some time before the election to be able to actually vote on Election Day. In Massachusetts, for example, new voters must register 20 days prior to an election, and other states have time requirements upwards of a month before an election.
Once this hurdle is overcome, potential voters need to request an absentee ballot-- - usually in writing - from their home district. This is a pretty easy task, but it can be hard if you don't know how to go about it. Although Tufts Choice 2000, a newly created student group working to heighten political awareness of the upcoming election, worked hard at Carmichael and Dewick/MacPhie to help students in requesting absentee ballots, not everyone knew what to do.
"I had no idea that they were registering people to vote [at the dining halls]," senior Erika Waddey said.
Just getting the ballot in the mail can be another source of frustration for students. In a letter to the Daily, junior Don Schechter wrote that, although he had registered to vote and had requested an absentee ballot from his home state, he never received it.
"Whoever delivers our mail is very confused," Schechter said. "It's usually bundled up in a pile outside and it's usually addressed to people that don't live here."
After receiving the ballot, students can finally make their voices heard, if they can ensure that their votes will be received in their home district on time. Mail delays or long travel times can prevent the vote from being counted. Some students are even irked that they had to scramble around their dorms to find a stamp for their ballot. "They should just make [the return envelopes] postage-free," Smith said.
Many think that if they complete these steps, they've successfully voted. Well, sort of. If they return their ballots too close to Election Day, they probably won't be included in the final vote until days after the election.
Although some think that absentee ballots are not considered in the final count unless the race is particularly close, the Daily learned that this was not the case. "As long as we receive an absentee ballot by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7, it is definitely counted," Massachusetts Election Representative Jack Carey said.
Some students felt that they didn't have enough time to consider the candidates and legislation on their absentee ballot because they were sent so recently. "I had to figure out who I was voting for earlier than other people. I didn't have a lot of time," junior Anne Montesano said.
Still, some prefer mailing in their ballot. "[Voting by mail] is good because I'm kind of lazy. It's a lot more convenient this way," said freshman Nick Fitzgerald.
