Prospector

Issue date: 5/3/04 Section: Campus Life

Media Credit: Leanne Garvin Dr. Timothy Killikelly informs Yuba College students about the issue of low voter turnout

Yuba College Students gathered to hear from Dr. Timothy Killikelly, coordinator of Mobilizing Democracy, on Tuesday April 29, at a Crossing Borders, Building Bridges Presentation. The presentation entitled "Why Vote?" addressed the issue of low voter turnout, as Killikelly outlined a program that could help community college students to become registered to vote.

Killikelly identified community college students as a group that largely fits the unregistered voter population. This is because community colleges are composed largely of 18-24 year olds who typically make less money than other demographic groups. Killikelly said, "The California Community College System in the largest education system in the U.S." He continued, "That's a large group of people who are in a group of people who don't vote."

For this reason Killikelly has been instrumental in an automatic voter registration program that works with the California Community College System and the office of the California Secretary of State. The program, entitled the "California Community College Student Voter Registration Project," is designed to make the voter registration process simple for students. It allows students to have the voter registration forms automatically processed when they register for their regular classes.

Killikelly said, "When you notice a large group of people not voting, you target those groups and ask them if they would like to vote."

In colleges where this is already implemented, students are asked at registration if they would like to be sent a voter registration form. Then the information is sent to a centrak server at the California Secretary of State's office, where the student information is entered into the voter registration form. The completed form is then mailed to the student, who marks if he or she is a U.S. Citizen, marks his or her political affiliation, and signs. The student then mails the form back and is registered to vote.

The program is already in effect at nine California Community Colleges, ranging from as large as Los Angeles College District to the small Taft Community College. Neelam Canto-Lugo, organizer of the Crossing Borders Building Bridges series, hopes that the voter registration program will be implemented at Yuba College. However, Killikelly recommended that the students go to the Yuba College administration and insist that they want it to be started.

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