Bailey Thompson | News Editor
With elections coming up on Nov. 6, Western students have a limited window left where they can register to vote. The voter registration deadline for the state of Oregon is Oct. 16, meaning that students will need to act quickly if they want their voices heard in local government.
A few of the ways that students can register include being automatically registered at the DMV, filling out the registration form online, mailing a voter registration card and going to a local election office to fill the form out in person.
Oregon’s official voter registration website is https://sos.oregon.gov/voting. On this site, students can register to vote, view candidate information, find materials about the current election and, beginning Oct. 12, access the voters’ pamphlet.
If Western students would like on-campus assistance with their registration, the ASWOU executive staff will be tabling in the WUC until the deadline in order to answer questions they might have.
“If 50 percent of young folks (in Oregon) were to register, it would be the largest voting group to date,” said Oregon Students of Color Coalition Organizer Manuel Mejia Gonzalez, who has been helping ASWOU with their tabling.
“In 2016, we registered 49,000 students…They were all people from 15 different campuses here in the state.” said Gonzalez.
ASWOU Director of Equity Natalie Dean then affirmed how significant individual votes can be when it comes to the outcome of an election.
“100 votes can swing an election easily. The numbers don’t lie,” Dean said.
Finally, Dean empathized with students who may be hesitant to vote, but she encouraged them to look out for the support that it available to them.
“I understand why people are less inclined to want to go out and vote because, if you don’t know the process, it’s daunting,” Dean said. But she also hoped students would find it easier if they knew that their student government was willing to stand by them in saying “It’s not that bad. We can help you.”
Important Dates
Oct. 10-12, 2018 Voters Pamphlets delivered
Oct. 16, 2018 Voter registration deadline
Oct. 17-22, 2018 Ballots mailed
Nov. 6, 2018 Election Day
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
