MASSPIRG Registers New Voters
Students at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Berkshire Community College will be running a voter registration drive on campus this week, leading up to the deadline to register to vote in the primaries for the upcoming special election to fill Senator Kennedy’s senate seat. The primary election on December 8th promises to be competitive with four Democratic and two Republican Candidate vying for their party’s nomination.”This election “is a great opportunity for students to show politicians that they need to pay attention to young voters in Massachusetts, ” according to MASSPIRG Chapter Chair Kaylee Morey. Massachusetts lost its senior Senator, Ted Kennedy, at the beginning of September. Senator Kennedy was a champion for students, leading the way on student aid, establishing AmeriCorps, and lowering the voting age to 18.
In 2004 and 2008, young voters turned out in record numbers, helping make young voters more important players in elections than ever before. This year in Massachusetts students have an opportunity to continue their role as an increasingly important political constituency. The six candiates currently in the race include Republicans Scott Brown and Jack E. Robinson, and Democrats Michael Capuano, Martha Coakley, Alan Khazei, and Steve Pagliuca.
MASSPIRG will be helping students register to vote Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 16, 17, and 18. To register at MCLA, stop by our table in the café during lunch and dinner hours. To register at Berkshire CC, stop by our table in the SBA Lounge from 9am-1pm.
Last year, MASSPIRG helped register over 10,000 students statewide to vote. This coming week, MASSPIRG aims to register 100 more students. Students often need to re-register year to year because you need to re-register when you change addresses. Students are allowed to register on campus no matter where they are from. The deadline to register to vote in the December 8 primary is Wednesday, November 18. The general election will take place on January 19, 2010.
For more information on MASSPIRG’s New Voter’s Project, check out http://www.newvotersproject.org/.
