With a proposition on the ballot that would directly affect funding for higher eductaion in Arizona, ASA has been increasing its efforts to get students to vote, focusing on spreading the word among out-of-state students so that they can vote in November’s elections.

Following Proposition 100, which was passed in 2010 and mandated a one-cent sales tax, Proposition 204 reinstates the tax, and allocates some of its revenue specifically to education.

“When passed, [the proposition] will provide up to $300 million a year for universities,” said Dan Sullivan, communications director of the Arizona Students’ Association, “half of which, about $150 million, will go to students in the form of financial aid.”

Additionally, the proposition also aims to improve the quality of education in Arizona, which is supposed to attract companies that require a high-quality workforce. In order to attract such companies, the act plans to fund road, rail, and transit projects.

In an effort to spread awareness about the bill and to get students to vote, ASA has been campaigning on campus and explaining to out-of-state students that voting in Arizona isn’t any more difficult than voting in their home states. Because those students pay tuition here, Sullivan added, it’s important that they register for the November elections.

The one-cent sales tax was voted into effect in 2010 and is set to expire May 31, 2013. If the one-cent sales tax expires, up to twenty percent of all public education funds would be cut.

ASA is “conducting the largest student voter registration and education and get out and vote campaign that we’ve ever seen,” Sullivan said. Efforts from ASA around campus include volunteers, interns and ASA staff members that are out on the Mall getting students to fill out the forms and giving presentations in class on how to register to vote.

“You hear a lot that this year is the most important year, but this year for Arizona students really is one of the most important years,” Sullivan said.