Politics and Students On Campus

By Carmella Boykin – Syracuse, N.Y. (CitrusTV) – For students who haven’t registered to vote in mid-term elections, the deadline is fast approaching.

In addition to local government changes, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be contested. Yet, many students choose not to vote due to the complexity of the registration process.

“Everyone’s participation is pretty important,” Maxwell Professor Shana Gadarian said. “People have the ability to move the parties, but they have to participate to do that,” Gadarian said.

To become more excited and engaged in the process, Maxwell Professor Grant Reeher suggested joining a political organization on campus like College Republicans or College Democrats that have some sort of connection to concerns about public issues.

However, Syracuse University students are in an interesting position because they can choose to vote either in their hometowns, or here in the Syracuse City elections. But, students need to decide fast because the first voter registration deadline in the U.S. is October 6^th and the NY State deadline October 12^th.

For more information about registration deadlines in your state, and step-by-step instructions on how to register, visit the university government website at http://gcr.syr.edu/voting/.