The Wake

In case you missed the barrage of political commercials on TV and the radio lately, or if this semester you don’t have one of those professors who enjoys getting up on his or her soapbox to lecture about the importance of getting involved in your community. Or, if you somehow managed to dodge all of those ever-present student activists distributing highlighter-colored flyers on the Washington Avenue Bridge or in Coffman, someone should remind you that there is an election coming up. It’s on Nov. 7. And you should vote.

Here come all of the excuses: I don’t care about politics. Politicians are all the same anyhow. I don’t even know where to vote.

No one is going to convince you that you should care about politics. If your tuition skyrockets again or the draft is reinstated and you’re sent to North Korea or the snowplowers go on strike this winter and you have to walk two miles to school in sub-zero temperatures because the buses aren’t running and your car tires are stuck in three feet of snow, you can still proudly proclaim that you didn’t vote because you don’t care. Likewise, no one can prove to you that politicians aren’t all the same. Keith Ellison, Alan Fine and Tammy Lee, all Martin Sabo successor hopefuls, surely have the same records, experience, values and stances on the issues. Well wait, who are they, anyhow? And lastly, you’re right: it is impossible to learn where you’re supposed to vote. Or is it?

Not all students vote at Coffman, as some may think, but you definitely can vote in your neighborhood. Minneapolis is divided into wards and precincts, neither of which really makes any difference to the average voter. But these boundaries do determine your polling location. The easiest way to find out where you vote is to go to this website: pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us. Students also have the option of voting in their hometowns if they’ve maintained a permanent address there.

In order to vote, you do need to register. Fortunately, Minnesota is one of only six states that allows same-day voter registration, according to Demos, a non-partisan public policy organization. Students can bring a photo I.D. with a current address, or can use a picture I.D. with certain documents that state your address. Acceptable documents include a utilities bill or school registration or fee statement, provided the bill or statement is less than 30 days old. You can also have a resident of your precinct vouch for you on election day. So you and your roommate who has all the utilities bills in their name can go to the polls together and they can verify your residence.

Still not convinced how easy it really is? Well, then let someone guilt you into it. Jim Forrey, of Democracy Matters, says, “It’s our job to participate or democracy doesn’t work.” There, you don’t want to let anyone down, now do you?