INPIRG pushes for voter turnout

On Thursday, there was a vote moat in the Arboretum.
They’d hoped for a vote goat, hosted a vote boat and planned a mock vote for next week.

For volunteers in the Indiana Public Interest Research Group, it’s a time for the final push, and a time to ensure votes make it to the ballot box next Tuesday.

INPIRG’s mission is to make 15,000 voter contacts by next Tuesday. A contact could include a text message, flyer or Facebook message — anything that encourages students to “raise their voice” on Election Day.

Campus organizer Elizabeth Himeles said the campaign has been long and busy, but promises to be rewarding.

“I’m just excited,” Himeles said. “Right now we have four days left to get all of our
contacts before the election.”

INPIRG is affiliated with U.S. PIRG, and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of student volunteers and interns advocating for policy issues important to students. Voter registration and encouraging voters toward the polls are also major components of its mission.

Indiana’s last day of voter registration was Oct. 9. By that date, INPIRG registered 2,115 voters through tabling and events like the Vote Boat, which enticed potential registrants with an eye-catching effort involving a donated vessel.

After their registration efforts, INPIRG shifted tracks. That’s where the Vote Moat came in. The idea was to dress in medieval garb and encourage voters to fight for their right to vote.

The INPIRG’s asked voters to pledge to vote. They also encouraged voters to text message cell phone contacts and Facebook message those contacts with reminders about Election Day.

“We’re trying to make it fun for people,” INPIRG media intern Colleen Dobry said. “People can get bogged down in all of the details of politics, and we just want to focus the idea on raising our voice and that sort of thing, keeping it young, fresh and fun.”

On Monday, the group will sponsor a mock election from noon to 3 p.m. at the Showalter Fountain, complete with campaign signs and ballots. Campaign Intern and sophomore Harry Douglass said the goal for that event is 2,000 voter contacts.

The candidates?

Tootsie Pops and Blow Pops.

Their mission, Dobry said, is to raise the student voice in the 2012 election.  
“I think that having a lot of young people involved in this election will be a success for us,” Dobry said.