Students lack election concern

For many IU students, Election Day was just a normal Tuesday. According to the Monroe County Board of Elections, only a small percentage of registered voters at the on-campus polling sites voted.\nPrecinct 5, which had polls at Foster Quad, had the lowest voter turnout of all 13 precincts on campus with a 0.76 percent turnout. Only 10 of 1,321 registered voters in the precinct voted. Precinct 6, located at University Gymnasium, located at 10th St. and Ind. 45/46, had the highest voter turnout of all on-campus voting precincts with 34 percent. Overall, the voter turnout percentage of on-campus polling sites was 8.26 percent.\nPolitical Science professor Edward Carmines said the main reason students do not take advantage of the right to vote is because they believe they are not directly affected by the election.\nFreshman Allison Hoke said she had other things on her mind, such as school, and does not have much concern for the city election.\n"I don't know anything about anyone who is running," Hoke said. "If I knew things about the candidates, I would probably care."\nSophomore Dana Rasmussen said she did not vote in the election because she did not know enough about the candidates to make an educated selection.\n"I think some students are not interested because they are not going to live here for a long time," Rasmussen said.\nOther students had similar problems. Junior April Walls said she didn't know the candidates' major issues and didn't realize Tuesday was Election Day.\n"I don't think it really affects the students as much as it does the general population," she said. \nRasmussen said she had trouble finding out where and when candidates were speaking.\n"If (students) are going to vote, it is going to be for someone who they have seen or have contact with," Rasmussen said.\nProfessor Carmines said candidates need to see students in their every day life and make an effort to listen to students' concerns and questions.\nHowever, Walls had a different approach to what candidates should do to get students more informed with Bloomington government.\n"I think they should come to certain spots on campus and hand out pamphlets saying what they stand for," Walls said. \nCarmines said students also need to do their part and become active in the election process in Bloomington.\n"They have to pay attention in terms of what is going on in politics and they need to attend meetings where politicians are speaking," Carmines said. "They need to talk to other students to see what joint concerns they have."\n-- Contact staff writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.