Campus Campaign Registers 3,200-plus Students
Released: October 27, 2004
A fall voter registration drive done in concert with Whitewater Student Government (WSG) exceeded expectations by getting more than 3,200 UW-Whitewater students registered to vote in the Nov. 2 election.
“When we set these goals early in the semester, they seemed pretty lofty,” said Molly Hilligoss, campus coordinator for the UW-Whitewater effort. “We ended up meeting our goal early.”
How much greater turnout that translates to on Nov. 2 remains to be seen, Hilligoss said, given that 18-24 year-olds have been a “fickle” demographic. Hilligoss represents the national New Voter Project, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which is working to re-engage young voters who have tuned out of past elections.
According to the New Voter Project, two of every three 18-25 year-olds do not vote and more than 40 percent are not even registered. With the newly registered list, Hilligoss estimated as many as 80 percent of UW-Whitewater’s 10,600 enrolled students could be registered this year.
Working out of the WSG offices, Hilligoss helped organize and train students to carry out the registration drive. She had seven interns and dozens of volunteers in the project. Similar campaigns were taking place across Wisconsin, and the project claims to have registered more than 135,000 people from 18-24 statewide.
WSG President David Wilder said the project has been beneficial to the campus and students much more aware of student government, he said.
In keeping with past elections, WSG is paying for a bus service to and from Whitewater’s polling place at the city’s old Armory building downtown. Buses will start at noon and pick up voters from Esker and Drumlin dining halls and the University Center before heading downtown. The bus will make a round trip every half hour through 8 p.m., Wilder said.
Wilder said at day’s end, students can attend a post-election party at the University Center’s “Down Under,” to either celebrate — ore lament — the day’s results.
- Brian Mattmiller,npa@uww.edu
