Tufts students seek increased campus political participation in today's elections

In the lead-up to this Election Day, campus groups have been working hard to ensure that Tufts students are registered to vote and politically engaged.

Vote Everywhere Ambassadors are part of an initiative of theAndrew Goodman Foundation to support voting rights on college campuses through spreading information and raising awareness about the importance of voting. The group has been active at Tufts since September, according to Vote Everywhere Ambassador Olivia Carle.

Vote Everywhere Ambassador Benjamin Kaplan said that the ambassadors' goal was getting students registered to vote up until the registration deadline of Oct. 15, and from then on until Election Day, the focus shifted to getting students to actually vote.

Along with collaboration with other student groups, the Vote Everywhere ambassadors have worked under the banner of Tufts Votes, Kaplan, a sophomore, said. Tufts Votes is an official student organization through the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, which registers student voters every two years and encourages them to vote.

Tufts Votes is participating in Get Out the Vote activities today, Kaplan said, such as talking to students on campus and driving them to polling stations.

Carle, a sophomore, noted that there have been issues with getting students from Tufts to participate. Other problems stem from the fact that the campus and the surrounding residences lie in both the cities of Medford and Somerville -- Carle said she had to travel to two different locations when taking the completed voter registration forms to the city halls.

Tufts is divided into two congressional districts, two state representative districts and four voting districts, Kaplan explained.

“Because campus is so divided along these lines, it’s just a logistical challenge for us to make sure that we’re giving students the right information about where they should vote,” he said.

Ellie Monroe, president of Tufts Republicans, said that the organization has been very active in this year's election season.

"Alongside the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans, members of Tufts [Republicans] have gone down to the Cape to canvass for various candidates, phone banked on Saturdays for Charlie Baker, and have gone up to New Hampshire to rally for Scott Brown," she told the Daily in an email. "We are looking forward to helping get out the vote tomorrow with Tufts Votes and watching the victories of Charlie Baker for Mass. Governor and fellow Tufts alumni in neighboring New Hampshire, Scott Brown and Marilinda Garcia."

Senior Sam Kelly, co-president of Tufts Democrats, said that for today's elections, their focus has been on campaigning for Martha Coakley as the next governor of Massachusetts.

“She’s the only candidate that’s focused on our interests,” Kelly said.

He added that they have been hosting different kinds of programming to generate involvement.

“We’ve had a great series of events all trying to get our membership on campus excited for Nov. 4,” Kelly explained.

These events include discussions about various topics, such as Hillary Clinton’s potential 2016 candidacy, a meeting with the chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party about the party’s visions and goals for the year and a meeting with candidate for State Representative Christine Barber.

Kelly explained that it was incredibly challenging to register students to vote because of the complicated systems that were in place. For example, Tufts and the City of Medford disagree about the addresses of certain dorms, which makes registering from dorms difficult.

Students also struggle with voter apathy. Because it is not a presidential year, the elections are not being talked about as much, Kelly noted.

“A part of our main goal is to make sure that students are engaged in the midterm election and realize that midterm elections do matter,” he said.

According to Kelly, Tufts Democrats will be volunteering with Tufts Votes and encouraging students to vote regardless of their political affiliations.

Carle added that by voting, students could have a voice not only in who is elected but also in what that person eventually does.

“To get engaged in the political process is to say that I have a stake in where I live … and I can try to make some change that I think is fitting,” she said.

According to Carle, there are certain pockets of students on campus that are very politically involved and certain pockets that are very involved in activism.

“Sometimes the two overlap, but not always,” she said.

Kaplan emphasized the role that voting can play in furthering activist goals.

“I think it’s very important that the activist idea of creating change and the electoral idea of creating change come together,” he said. “Activism without electoral participation is useless, and electoral participation without activism is hollow, but when you combine [them] you get real change.”

Carle explained that Tufts Votes was an existing structure from previous years with a name, logo and website that the Vote Everywhere ambassadors used to support their cause.

Kaplan characterized Tufts Votes as a broad-based non-partisan coalition that brings together different groups and gets students engaged.

“Our goal is … to show that Tufts can be a voice in our community,” he said.