Students rush to register voters by Monday deadline

For Kayla Pelter, combating political apathy among college students has become an obsession of sorts. She's ardently committed to issues concerning local government -- an area most undergraduates tend to neglect, she notes -- and has devoted hours upon hours to furthering one of IU's newest political organizations -- Grand Old Cause.\nAnd this weekend, Pelter will be working overtime in the buildup to Monday's voter registration deadline. \n"Most people, including students, are concerned with state and federal elections," she said. "Right now, we are trying to raise awareness at IU about the importance of local elections."\nMonroe County voters will be deciding significant elected positions this year, including those of county council, county commissioner and a juvenile court judge, and Pelter encourages students -- even if they're not from Indiana -- to register in Monroe County. \n"Even though many IU students are registered to vote in their home states and counties, Monroe County will really be our home for the next few years," Pelter said, noting that problems the county currently faces include issues relating to the Monroe County Jail, the local landfill, which she deems an "environmental threat" and adequate housing for IU students. \nGrand Old Cause, a nonpartisan conservative student group, is one of many IU organizations devoted to drumming up student interest in politics, and president Chase Downham said the group has tried to distance itself from actually supporting candidates. \n"However, we do feel that a free society can only exist as long it chooses to participate in our electoral process," Downham said. "The right to vote our leaders into office is one of the key differences which marks us different from many places in the world. Brave men and women have fought and died so that we may have this right. It should not and cannot be taken for granted."\nOfficials from the Monroe County Election Board said there hasn't been a significant rush to register over the past week but noted that may change come Monday.\nMonroe County Democratic Party staffer Linda Stafford, who runs the party's Bloomington headquarters, said the timing of significant primary elections -- specifically the County Council race in May -- poses a significant challenge to getting out the student vote. Monroe County's primaries begin May 4. \n"It comes right in the middle of finals," Stafford said. "If students have gone home or have finals, we almost always have a poor turnout for students."\nBut she does expect students to be "extremely interested" in the fall presidential election. \n"We would love to have students involved in the Monroe County campaign," she said. "We're trying to build relationships and will definitely be reaching out all summer and fall to students."\n-- Contact senior writer Holly Johnson at hljohnso@indiana.edu.