Black On Campus
Higher Education and the African American Experience

Battle for the Presidency Comes to Campus

September 28th, 2008 by Ajuan Mance

Ohio college students register to vote.

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The BRAD BLOG has reported on some of the newest efforts to suppress the student vote. The most recent efforts to fraudulently or deceptively infringe on college students’ voting rights have been led by the GOP, whose local officials have been engaging in what can only be described as a dirty tricks campaign to disseminate false information about regional election regulations.

Blogger Brad Friedman describes this growing attempt to discourage student voters:

The anti-student, anti-democracy scam, now reported in at least three states, includes scare-tactics published by election officials, notifying students (incorrectly) that they may lose student aid and scholarships, etc., if they register to vote where they go to school.

When such efforts are exposed as deceptive and inaccurate, the local Republican official will usually claim that their dissemination of false information was unintentional, and that they simply made a mistake in interpreting local regulations.

The states where this scam has taken place are South Carolina, Virginia, and Colorado.

To read the BRAD BLOG’s coverage of GOP efforts to suppress the student, minority, and low-income vote in key swing states, click HERE.

And if you haven’t registered, the Proud Black Voter blog has compiled a useful state-by-state list of links to voter registration information. Click on the image below to learn more about how to register to vote in your are;and remember that you don’t have to be Black to access the information on this site; you simply have to have a interest in voting for the candidate of your choice:

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Posted in Current Events, Higher Education, Student Voters, Voter Registration, Voting Rights, young voters

2 Responses

  1. Clnmike

    This reminds me of my freshman year when Bill Clinton was running for POTUS, the dean of the college refused to let us use the school vans to go to the nearest polls. We were stcuk on campus of the middle of no where.

  2. Ajuan Mance

    I guess that efforts to limit the youth vote aren’t really new.

    I must say that throughout this election cycle I have been amazed to see how afraid the political establishment is of the power of the youth vote.

    Part of the issue is, I imagine, that some of the policies advocated by established political leaders are not at all in the best interests of young voters, most of whom are neither rich nor politically connected. If young voters vote their interests, then the political establishment loses out.

    Let’s, then, hope that young people vote their interests.