The student senate held a voter registration drive on Thurs., Oct. 9 in the HUB. The drive was developed to encourage PSU students to register to vote in the upcoming Presidential election.
N.H. is known as one of the battleground states in the upcoming election, the poll numbers for Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain are currently very close in the state.
Student Body President Aly Dethlefs organized the on campus drive, “This was the first voter registration drive offered this year,” Dethlefs said.
Student senate sponsored another voter registration for the N.H. primary election last year.
“I coordinated the event, and then I had senators and executive board members who helped during the actual event, which was wonderful,” Dethlefs said.
Dethlefs worked with the town of Plymouth while organizing the voter registration, “I went down to the town hall to speak with Marlene Stewart, who I knew from previous years is one of the people who registered students,” Dethlefs said, “I knew she would be able to gather the right people who were certified to register students to vote,” Dethlefs said.
Students who registered to vote on Thurs. had to declare their legal domicile as Plymouth, N.H. for voting purposes. Students who registered with the town of Plymouth had to reject their status in his or her hometown or state.
“The students have declared their legal domicile for Plymouth, N.H. since they go to college here,” Dethlefs said, “So, in the future, if they were to vote anywhere else they would need to change their domicile. But for now they are registered to vote in the town of Plymouth,” Dethlefs said.
In the future, when the students graduate or move on, they will have to re-register to vote in wherever they move to.
The town of Plymouth was also impressed with the amount of students who turned out for the voter registration. By creating an event where students could register to vote on campus during a consolidated time, a lot of hassle was avoided.
“The town also like[d] the opportunity to come up to the University to alleviate the traffic of students registering to vote at the town hall,” Dethlefs said.
211 students registered to vote on Thurs, “I think we had an amazing turn-out and hope to see the same for the actual elections,” Dethlefs said.
Voting will take place on Nov. 4 at the Plymouth Elementary School off of Highland Street. Students registered in the town of Plymouth will be able to vote, while students elsewhere will have to vote via absentee ballot.
Official election laws regarding absentee ballots should be obtained through the town’s government website.