Enticed by free popcorn and Otter Pops, students registered to vote Wednesday and Thursday for the upcoming elections.
While the Nov. 2nd elections are just around the corner, students throughout the state are making their voices heard. Set up on the UA Mall, the Arizona Students’ Association and UA Votes teamed up on the campaign, making it convenient for both in- and out-of-state students to register to vote.
According to Katie Parissenti, a political science major and ASA student intern, students are definitely showing interest.
“”Our vote affects what happens to our school, our budgets and the way our school is run,”” said Parissenti.
Fellow intern Alex Kairoff said, “”the state of Arizona is ranked 49th per-student in education spending.”” According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which includes Washington D.C., only Idaho and Utah rank lower than Arizona in that category. Kairoff also stated “”our vote directly affects”” the state budget and money that is allotted towards public education.
By Wednesday afternoon ASA had registered 125 voters, easily surpassing their goal of 100. ASA hopes to have 3,000 registered voters at the UA and 5,000 in the state by the end of their registration events, including “”Blitz Week “” which will take place the week of Sept. 27.
Kairoff said ASA is trying to make registering fun and “”more out there”” for the students. With the different themes each day including “”Voting is Poppin'”” and “”You Otter Vote,”” the lure of goodies such as popcorn and Otter Pops is one reason students stop by, according to Ricky Jamison, a molecular and cellular biology major.
“”I thought it would be a good idea, especially regarding the tuition,”” he said.
Elma Delic, the ASA board chair, described how ASA has been working to make college more affordable to the state’s 130,000 public university students since 1974.
In the last nine years, university tuition in the state of Arizona has increased by over 160 percent, according to the ASA website.
Whether attracted by treats or by the importance of seeing the state budget allocated to more public education, Arizona students want to be heard.
“”We (students) actually outnumber the people in Senate,”” said Jamison. “”We have way more say than one person.””
