A campus-wide effort pushes nationwide cause
Andrew Zaleski
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: News
"It's a really unique thing," said Hollis. "An initiative started by one or two kids metamorphosed to something that the entire school has a stake in."
Logistically, any voter registration drive is difficult to put together. According to Kienle, voter registration regulations vary by state, and a majority of states have deadlines of October 4 or shortly after. Therefore, Hollis and Kienle are aiming to have the majority of registration forms mailed by September 30. However, Loyola's voter drive is distinct because it is absenteeballot-driven and not polling-place driven, which adds another element of challenge to the initiative.
"[We] tried to get a polling place on campus, but because there is a polling place within a mile, [we] couldn't get one," Dennis said.
Therefore, Loyola's voting drive will focus solely on registering students and ensuring that all registered students can vote via absentee ballot. Even Maryland residents will most likely vote via absentee, otherwise the students would have to return to their home polling venue on election day - a problematic circumstance. "It is definitely a bit more challenging than just getting a polling place," Kienle acknowledged.
To facilitate voter registration, tables will be placed outside Boulder Garden Café between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Tuesday through Thursday and Primo's between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
With such a large-scale operation to run, the cost of the voting initiative keeps piling up: envelopes, stamps, t-shirts, events, scanners and Xerox machines need to be bought or borrowed to achieve success. Dennis noted that the voting initiative is "more complicated than having just a lot of enthusiastic people."
"You're always going to have challenges when working with an all-volunteer staff and students who sometimes confuse priorities," said Dennis. "But," he continued, "we have a team of very responsible people and everywhere we've turned on campus, everybody's been very enthusiastic and very cooperative."
Logistically, any voter registration drive is difficult to put together. According to Kienle, voter registration regulations vary by state, and a majority of states have deadlines of October 4 or shortly after. Therefore, Hollis and Kienle are aiming to have the majority of registration forms mailed by September 30. However, Loyola's voter drive is distinct because it is absenteeballot-driven and not polling-place driven, which adds another element of challenge to the initiative.
"[We] tried to get a polling place on campus, but because there is a polling place within a mile, [we] couldn't get one," Dennis said.
Therefore, Loyola's voting drive will focus solely on registering students and ensuring that all registered students can vote via absentee ballot. Even Maryland residents will most likely vote via absentee, otherwise the students would have to return to their home polling venue on election day - a problematic circumstance. "It is definitely a bit more challenging than just getting a polling place," Kienle acknowledged.
To facilitate voter registration, tables will be placed outside Boulder Garden Café between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Tuesday through Thursday and Primo's between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
With such a large-scale operation to run, the cost of the voting initiative keeps piling up: envelopes, stamps, t-shirts, events, scanners and Xerox machines need to be bought or borrowed to achieve success. Dennis noted that the voting initiative is "more complicated than having just a lot of enthusiastic people."
"You're always going to have challenges when working with an all-volunteer staff and students who sometimes confuse priorities," said Dennis. "But," he continued, "we have a team of very responsible people and everywhere we've turned on campus, everybody's been very enthusiastic and very cooperative."
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