@bodytext: Tufts Votes ought to be ashamed of itself. It has negated its entire purpose by neglecting to ensure that all of the voter registration cards it collected sent to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on time. Students filled out these voter registration forms in good faith that Tufts Votes would deliver them before the Oct. 13 deadline. Now, a number of students will have a harsh surprise next Tuesday when they are turned away at the voting booth.
This irresponsibility has disenfranchised students that chose to register in Medford or Somerville. The Daily has previously written that Tufts students should vote in local elections so that we can have an impact in community politics. Tufts Votes presented a method for students to register easily and impact the elections locally. The leverage Tufts students could have on Medford and Somerville has been diminished because of this error.
The vote is one of the most precious aspects of the American political system. Citizens are able to input their opinions in order to determine who will run the government and, by extension, what its policies should be. College-age voters, from 18 to 24, have the lowest voting rate among any age group in the country. It is important for voters our age to show our leverage.
Tufts Votes should be commended for registering over 300 students on time in Medford and Somerville for this election. This registration error, however, will overshadow all the work its members did, and rightfully so. While the exact number of forms sent in late is unknown, it appears to be a sizeable amount.
Students were encouraged to give completed registration forms to their RAs or Tufts Votes member, and its funding from the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) gave the group legitimacy.
Registering people to vote isn't just another activity to list on a resume - it's dealing with people's right to participate in government. It should be treated in such high regard by student groups like Voices of Change (VOX) and Tufts Votes, instead of using University money
irresponsibly.
Tufts is an extremely politicized campus, and voting is highly valued. Students who registered in Medford and Somerville looked forward to voting here. Those who have been disenfranchised will be rightfully angry when they realize they are not able to vote, due to circumstances out of their control.
A miscommunication resulted in a student volunteer returning the cards collected by VOX to the head of Tufts Votes too late to make the Oct. 13 deadline, and some RAs returned forms to Tufts Votes too late as well. But, shouldn't Tufts Votes have alerted its volunteers of the registration due date?
These groups want to draw attention to their accomplishments and future projects, like driving students to polling stations on Election Day. But these works are in vain if they are too disorganized to send registration cards into Medford and Somerville on time. Students who registered with Tufts Votes and have yet to receive any information from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should call their city's Registrar Voter's office. The total impact of this error must be known and reported to the Tufts community.
