Florida students seek voters

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - College students in Tallahassee plan on reversing what happened in the September primary by having a strong voter turnout in the upcoming general election.\nEarly in the semester, students at Florida State and Florida A&M universities staged voter registration drives that organizers say were successful in recruiting new voters.\nFSU began its "Wake Up Wednesday" voter registration drive in September. Matthew Armstrong, FSU Student Government Association's secretary of special projects, said 445 students were registered. Registration forms were handed out at social events and in classrooms.\nAaron Barnes, elections and appointments chairperson for FAMU's SGA, said 900 new voters have been registered.\nIon Sancho, Leon County Supervisor of Elections, said he believes that because most of FAMU's students stay off campus, the grand total should be well 1,000.\n"The amount of new registered voters comes from several voter registration drives done in a very short span of time before the closing of the books on Oct. 7," Sancho said.\nNow the push is on to get those new voters to the polls on Nov. 5.\nLast week, Gov. Bush's oldest son, George P. Bush, appeared at a reception for the Florida State University Get Down. He followed that up by riding in the University of Central Florida's Homecoming Parade Saturday before heading on to the University of South Florida, University of Florida and Florida International University.\nThursday, students from FAMU, FSU and TCC will came together for an early voting march at the Leon County Courthouse. The theme of the march is, "We Won't Be Tricked Again."\nThe early voting march may reverse the college student turnout in September's primary election when voter turnout at precincts most popular among college students showed dismal participation. According to the Supervisor of Elections Office, there are 3,244 eligible voters at the precincts on the FAMU and FSU campuses. Only 431 people voted in the primary.\nThe early voting march was an initiative from the Arrive With Five voter campaign. Students signed pledges promising to bring five more eligible voters with them to the polls as part of the student-targeted campaign. Andrew Gillum, a FAMU graduate and former SGA president, was the coordinator.\n"Since anyone registered to vote can vote at the courthouse, and not worry about what precinct they have to go to, we feel that it's a good way to vote early," said Barnes of FAMU.\nSancho said he's expecting students to take a special interest in the Bush/McBride showdown.\n"College students normally have a very strong turnout only during the presidential election," he said. "However, I believe with the varying opinions on the gubernatorial candidates, the voter turnout for college students will be much higher"