The Occidental Democrats tabled in the quad Oct. 15 to register voters in the campus community. The club has also created a resource guide to help students understand the unique voting processes of all 50 states, according to Occidental Democrats co-presidents Mia Hernandez (sophomore) and Isobel Dickson (sophomore). Dickson and Hernandez said that the organization has also worked with other clubs, such as the Planned Parenthood Club*, to get Occidental students to register to vote. Concerning conservative activism ahead of the midterms The Conservatives of Occidental are inactive on campus this year due to insufficient membership, according to Max Woods (senior).
The midterm elections, which will take place Nov. 6, features 70 competitive House races. Of those races, 31 are considered to be toss-ups. There are 13 competitive Senate races.
Hernandez described the importance of engaging more Occidental students with politics.
“As a club on campus, we want to make sure we are keeping in touch with that community and making sure that Oxy students specifically are engaged with the political process,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t have to be our specific views, but we wanna make sure that everyone is engaged in that.”
Politics major Sophie Craypo (senior), who is investigating voter turnout for her comprehensive project, said voting is a great way to make one’s voice heard and to influence government action. However, voter turnout is still especially low among college students.
“I think for people our age, there’s a lot of different things. Sometimes they’re just not aware of the different options to vote,” Craypo said. “If you’re in college, it can be hard to get an absentee ballot. It takes time out of their day, out of studying. Or it’s hard to find a place near campus to vote.”
Dickson said that students should be voting to facilitate political engagement with the democratic processes of the country. She described it as the easiest way for students to get involved with government and policies.
“Whether you vote or not, the things that are happening in our government are going to affect you either way, so I feel like you need to be involved in that capacity to have an impact on what is going on in our country,” Dickson said.
Professor Ainsley LeSure of the Politics department and Jasmyne Cannick, a political strategist and commentator, hosted a panel Oct. 18 in Fowler 302 that discussed the importance of voting. Professor LeSure emphasized how voting represents the need for human collaboration in the political realm.
“Voting reflects our vulnerability to each other. It shows our dependence on each other in the political sphere. Your vote signifies your relationship to others,” LeSure said.
LeSure also described how there is a lot of apathy in politics, which has led many people to disconnect from the democratic process.
“If your vote only matters if you get the outcome you want, then there are more expedient ways to do that,” LeSure said.
Craypo said that it is important for the American people to get their ideas represented in their government.
“If people vote, then their ideas and identities would be represented more across all forms of government,” Craypo said.
Both Dickson and Hernandez said their club wants to focus on making incremental progress and to inspire students to action.
“I think that it can work in a positive direction as a catalyst to inspire people to get more involved. So we definitely want to capitalize on that motivation to have people care more rather than care less,” Hernandez said.
*Mithila Chandra is a member of the Occidental Planned Parenthood E-Board and was in no way involved in the voter registration efforts.
