By With 12 days left before the voter registration deadline, Cal State Long Beach is still 3,450 students short of its registration goal of 4,900 student voters.
The ’49ers Vote’ campaign kicked off a few weeks ago and since has registered about 1,450 students to vote. Associated Students Inc. President John Haberstroh said he didn’t feel like the ASI Senate was being active enough in their voter registration drive as well as advocacy for Proposition 30.
“We voted on a resolution to support Proposition 30 and increase voter registration on campus, and the amount of effort I’ve seen has been disheartening,” Haberstroh said.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, Prop. 30, is a measure on the November ballot that would trigger a $250 million cut to state funding for the CSU system if it does not pass.
Allison Gallagher, secretary for city affairs, said she feels that the goal to register 3,450 more students is still obtainable and that as the Oct. 22 deadline approaches, the number will increase exponentially.
“I don’t think students are fully thinking about the elections just yet, so they are still kind of hesitant to register,” Gallagher said.
ASI will still be able to register more students on its biggest voter registration day, the “Hot Dog Let’s Vote” event on Oct. 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the commencement lawn. The first 600 students to come out will get to chow down on a free hot dog while learning about the upcoming elections.
In the meantime, students can pick up voter registration applications at information tables located on campus this week and next. Applications are also available in the ASI office, according to Gallagher.
In 2011, the ASI Senate passed a resolution creating Lobby Corps, a legislative board that represents Cal State Long Beach on local, state and federal levels. The board’s responsibilities also include coordinating state and federal voter registration drives on campus.
Senator David Rose said he has been on campus for six years and he barely remembers the general election of 2008.
“Lobby Corps is a fairly new organization, and I feel like it is making a difference on campus,” Rose said. “ASI is registering students to vote and getting out there and participating in advocacy efforts, so it’s hard to say that we are doing bad. I feel like we’re doing really well in comparison with the previous election. “
About 75 percent of eligible voters in Los Angeles County are registered to vote, in comparison with 83 percent in Orange County, according to the Secretary of State website. While the percentages are fairly high, there are still some 6.5 million eligible Californians who are not registered to vote, according to Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
Although voter registration is encouraged on campus, students can still register online through the Secretary of State website, www.sos.gov/elections/register-to-vote. Californians can also pick up voter registration applications at the local library, U.S. Post Office, Department of Motor Vehicles or the county elections office.
