Election Day: voting away from home

The 2014 gubernatorial election in Wisconsin is running full-steam ahead as Election Day, Nov. 4, draws closer. Mary Burke and Scott Walker vie for governor as posters scatter the state of Wisconsin along with posters for men and women running at the state and federal levels.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is offering opportunities for students to register to vote for the upcoming election.

For the past couple of weeks, tables have been set up in the Markee Pioneer Student Center, Rountree Commons and Bridgeway Commons to help students register to vote. Volunteers assist students who are not from the area to vote locally instead of missing classes to vote at home.

One student mentioned that registering at the tables is not so simple.

“It’s not very easy for students to access the registering tables,” freshman mechanical engineering major Callum Toal said.

Aside from the tables for students to register at, there are other ways for students to register and vote, including doing so at City Hall, a short walk from campus.

“If students intend to vote here in Platteville in the four years that they are here, then they can go down to City Hall right now and not only can they register to vote but also vote at the same time,” Dr. Rosalyn Broussard, professor of political science and director of ethnic studies said. “So you would need your student I.D. and some mail with your address on it.”

Polling stations will also be set up on campus on Election Day, giving students the chance to vote without leaving UW-Platteville grounds.

“There will be a polling station in the student center in the Crossing,” Broussard said.

State elections, such as gubernatorial races, are based on popular vote. However, some students do not vote at all. They believe their voices are not heard when they vote in the Presidential Election due to the Electoral College system.

“[Students] feel like they can’t make a difference. One vote won’t make that big of an impact, even though it does,” senior forensic investigation major Alyssa Dickrell said.

The Electoral College in each state has a certain number of votes based on the population size of its state. Citizens vote on the ballot, and based on the popular vote of its citizens, the Electoral College votes for the candidate the citizens chose, but only for the Presidential Election.

“I would argue that students are so young right now that if they become disillusioned with both political parties, but if they see that neither party addresses their needs, they will become disengaged,” Broussard said.

“Either way, students get screwed over no matter if they vote or not,” Toal said.

“Students do not vote because they’re not politically informed,” senior business construction and safety management major Dan Thomsen said. “Students make irrational decisions when it comes to politics.”

For more information about candidates, visit vote.org and wisconsinvote.org.