by Jason Gulya 

Already in 2007 we’ve heard much about the upcoming elections, both about the primaries and—after speculations over who will win the primaries—the elections themselves. This trend has reached colleges nationally, with students more interested at this early stage than perhaps ever before.

At Rutgers University, the RU Democrats and the Rutgers College Republicans are already swapping impressions of the possible 2008 candidates. Around the country, on-campus groups—whether they be Republican, Democrat, or affiliated with another political party or ideology—are thinking of ways to get the younger population out and eager to vote.  Nonpartisan groups are also working on ways to attract students to the polls. 

One such group, Maryland Votes, works within the University of Maryland system.  Bill Grayson, the head of the group, said that they are using initiatives much different from those of last semester, and—instead of spending the majority of their time registering students to vote—they’re urging the colleges to step up and institutionalize voting.  Maryland Votes has raised the possibility of students being able to register when they get their school ID. Grayson said he wants to change the focus of Maryland Votes because he believes the organization’s time could be better spent educating voters about the elections themselves.  Also, according to Grayson, a huge problem last semester was a lack of voting machines (they were promised twelve machines but only received two, causing some students to stand in line for almost three hours).  In order to protect the right to vote for college students, Grayson recommends legislation that would, for example, ensure a certain number of voting machines

Maryland Votes has been encouraging students to call their legislators about the upcoming elections; according to Grayson, this serves to advocate the advancement of student voting rights and also helps students feel like they have power over the state of our country.