Voting effort moves to 'U' housing

Upon opening their mailboxes today, about 11,000 students living in residence halls will find a voter registration card and a letter from Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford urging students to consider registering to vote in Ann Arbor.

The program, co-sponsored by Voice Your Vote and the Residence Hall Association, will provide the students with all the necessary information to register in time for next November's election.

In February, Voice Your Vote won approval for a program to send voter registration cards with 5,500 residence hall leases to students next fall. That program, the first of its kind in the country, was recently expanded to include students currently living in the residence halls.

Ryan Friedrichs, co-founder of Voice Your Vote, said this plan meets the unique needs of college students. Because many students change addresses each year and are from other states, registering is a more difficult task for them. Friedrichs said registering to vote "couldn't be any easier" due to this plan.

By filling out the card and returning it to a box near the front desk of their residence halls, students will receive their confirmation cards next fall along with their new address, Friedrichs said.

He said this program will ease Voice Your Vote's registration burden, allowing it to channel energy toward other endeavors.

"This will allow us to focus so much more on education and motivation to vote in the fall," said Friedrichs, an LSA junior.

The plan includes a drive to register students living in family housing, Greek houses, co-ops and other off-campus housing beginning next fall. Overall, those involved in Voice Your Vote say they hope the drive will reach 20,000 students before November's election.

"Our role now is building coalitions with Greek houses, co-ops and local landlords to reach all students," Friedrichs said.

Kelly Boland, a member of Voice Your Vote and president of the College Democrats, said she hopes a majority of students will take the opportunity to register this way, adding that it is probably the easiest way for them to do so.

"The easier we make it for them to register, the better chance (there is that) they will vote," Boland said.

Friedrichs said this is a new way of conceptualizing a university's role in the political process, and he hopes the opportunity this program provides is not wasted.

"I hope students take advantage of it, and then go out and use their vote in the fall," Friedrichs said. "That is where the real difference is made."

The drive is a culmination of work among many University organizations including Voice Your Vote, RHA, the Department of Housing and the Office of Student Affairs.

RHA president-elect Albert Garcia said this voter registration drive is the "largest initiative at the University and probably any university.

"Students don't have to seek out a clerk's office," Garcia said. "The card is given to them."

The national voter registration organization Rock the Vote has helped Voice Your Vote with their work to this point. Friedrichs said they plan to monitor this program closely and possibly advocate it nationally if successful.

Rock the Vote has "already approached us," Friedrichs said. "We've been invited to speak at conferences this summer and been offered their database to expand.

"We hope to have this plan in place nationally by 2000 with our program as a model," Friedrichs said.

04-20-98