Our Time Is Now Kent State. Get Out And Vote.

On November 7, Portage County residents (including Kent State Students) will have the opportunity to once again vote in the upcoming primary election. So why does it feel like nobody really cares? 

Rewind seven months or so and you couldn't even step outside without seeing thousands of bumperstickers, yard signs and plackards strewn across our yards, posted in our windows and pasted to our cars. The City of Kent, and especially the Kent Campus, was buzzing with talk of the upcoming elections.

Here on campus the College Democrats and Republicans blanketed every inch of advertising space, registering thousands of students, faculty and staff members to vote. Fliers in red and blue were posted as far as the eye could see, over one hundred students blanketed our campus with clipboard filled with registration forms and candidate brochures.

Where are those volunteers now? 

As the time for the polls to open inches ever closer I've heard little to nothing from our student leaders encouraging voter turnout. Even sadder, we've heard absolutely nothing from the administration regarding the importance of making our voices heard.

Why? 

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, there were 108,163 individuals regisered to vote in Portage County for the Presidential elections in Novemeber. That's roughly 85% of the age-eligibile population within the county. Of that 85%, only 68% of us actually turned out.   

If we rewind to the 2012 primaries even less voters turned out, at 25% of registered voters showing up to the polls. 
Where is the excitement? 

Presidential or not, this election is important to every person here in Kent. On May 7 we will have the opportunity to consider the Kent City Schools Levy and seven candidates for the Kent City Council. This is our chance to make our voices heard. Take advantage of it! 

If you haven't already done so, go register to vote. Right now! If you have the two minutes it takes to read through this rant, why not take two more?

Click here to register to vote online before the polls open. 

Why not go one step further? Volunteer with political parties and groups in the area: 

• Portage Democratic Party: 330.298.3367
• Portage Republican Party: 330.297.0020
• Portage Liberterian Party: 440.453.5290
• Portage League of Women Voters: 330.678.1261

The only thing keeping us from being politically active is ourselves. It's time to change that. 

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American People themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting. -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Come Tueday you can find me at the polls. Where will you be?

Our time is now Kent State. Get out and vote!