High voter turnout last Tuesday has not deterred a number of on-campus groups working toward greater voter participation.
Forty-four percent of those eligible in Dane County voted in the Wisconsin primary, surpassing records of all previous February primaries, which have attracted a maximum of 25 percent of voters.
Although avid campaigning between candidates and the casino issue played roles, many group members attribute turnout success to the efforts of the Associated Students of Madison and UW-Madison groups working with ASM to promote voting.
\We're very happy to hear about it, definitely. I think it shows the efforts of the ASM coalition are paying off,"" said Contemporary Issues Director Renee Gasch.
Groups working with ASM, such as the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, the Wisconsin Union Directorate, New Voters Project and both party student groups have been working towards gaining student votes.
""It's a continual effort that's been going on since last semester ... it's a very collaborative effort,"" Gasch said.
Gasch added groups plan to further their endeavors and continue working hard leading up to the Nov. 4 presidential election.
Ariane Strombom, UW-Madison freshman and ASM coordinator for the Vote 2004 coalition, estimated volunteers have registered 1,000 new voters so far. Although she was satisfied with this number, there are still many more people to register to reach ASM's goal of 17,000 newly registered voters by the presidential elections.
""We're happy that it was a greater turnout, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop. We're going to keep registering new people, and for the election in November, we want to register more people,"" Strombom said.
Many student-voting advocates cited lower participation among young people and the resulting disregard of student-related issues as motivation to work towards change.
Approximately one-third of young people ages 18 to 24 vote while older groups tend to vote at about twice that rate.
""We have no say in our government because the elderly who do vote, they get everything geared toward them. But we have issues too. Education, tuition, I know some people are talking about the drinking age. There are a lot of concerns that we have that should be heard,"" Strombom said.
According to Ross Mudrick, coordinator Wisconsin Public Interest Research Groups' Vote 2004 campaign, voter turnout among students is lower because politicians do not address issues important to students.
As a result of students not voting, politicians continue to overlook them, Mudrick said. Mudrick added it is important for students to ""make a point to politicians that we do matter and we do vote."" In addition to gaining student votes, groups are working to aid those who wish to vote but lack the knowledge or resources to do so.
""There were a lot of people that were interested [in voting]. We had a lot of contacts with people in the general public ... a lot of people didn't know how to register and had a lot of questions,"" Strombom said.
Through registering and increased awareness, Vote 2004 representatives said they hope to accomplish their goal to increase voter turnout of 18-to 24-year-olds 5 percent this semester across 6 states, including Wisconsin.
Upcoming events to recruit voters include union sponsored debates, information sessions, helping people get registered and generally increasing awareness about the election and issues.
