Campus groups push for high voter turnout

A vote for a cookie? Junior Kaitlin DeCero, co-coordinator of the Indiana Public Interest Research Group New Voters Project, said the group will be handing out cookies around campus Tuesday to those who have voted or plan to vote as "a little incentive."\n"I anticipate a greater turnout for students (and) feel like there should be because we are not the only people trying to get people to go out to the polls," DeCero said.\nWith Tuesday's election approaching, student groups such as the IU College Republicans and IU College Democrats have been around campus encouraging and informing students about candidates and how to vote. \nThe most talked-about race in the state of Indiana is the 9th District congressional race between incumbent Republican Mike Sodrel and Democrat Baron Hill, said political science professor Russell Hanson. Sodrel and Hill and running against each other for the third time. \n"At this point, it is very impossible to predict," Hanson said about the 9th District race. "Hill currently has a 2 percent lead, and both are going to work very hard to continue their campaign up until Election Day."\nHanson said he feels this is a race independents will decide. Usually, he said, independents tend to vote Democrat, but this year, it could go either way.\nSophomore Brian Clampitt, communications director for the IU College Democrats, said he feels students who consider themselves to be independent usually vote for a Democrat or an incumbent in off-year elections. In this case, the incumbent would be Sodrel, a Republican.\n"Our main goal is trying to get college kids to vote," Clampitt said. "We think the race is going in our favor ... We've been having speakers come in to meetings, and everyone we have talked to is really into the race and excited to help and volunteer."\nClampitt explained that over the past few months, the IU College Democrats were at the Indiana Memorial Union encouraging people to register to and vote.\nNicole Mossey, press secretary for the IU College Republicans, said she agrees that a lot of students will vote because of the hype of this election. \n"A big thing, most important, is getting the voters in touch with the candidates," Mossey said. "Whether college or middle age ... If you do not know who is running, then you're probably not going to vote for them."\nThe IU College Republicans have also been encouraging people to vote and register the past few months, along with making phone calls and knocking on doors.\nClampitt said the IU College Democrats have been encouraging students to vote early, which anyone can do through Monday. INPIRG has also been on campus each day letting people know where and how they can vote to make things easier, DeCero said.\n"(There is) no excuse not to do it," DeCero said. "If you don't have time, you can vote early. Students should have opinions about these issues."\nToday and Tuesday, INPIRG will be stationed at the literature desk in the Memorial Union with a laptop, and students will be able to come and type in their address to find their polling location. \n"We want to make sure everyone has the resources available," DeCero said. "A lot of students didn't know where the polling locations were."\nDeCero also added that a lot of students don't register in this county but instead fill out an absentee ballot for their hometown. She said students live here nine months out of the year and are more affected by who is elected here than who is elected back home.\n"That is my encouragement to get students to register and vote down here and have a say," DeCero said. "One vote can make a difference"