B Y BEATRIZ GOMEZ
As the nation was approaching the 2008 presidential election, the most anxious people were those who didn’t know whether they’d be able to vote. These fears especially reached GMC students when they realized the election was coming soon, and absentee ballots had not been delivered to campus mailboxes. “I, like many others, was told that I could get an absentee ballot in the mail and never did,” said senior Ronnie Black. After not receiving absentee ballots, students felt their voices were lost. “I did feel like my voice was taken away. If a person doesn’t vote, how are people going to know you exist,” asked an RA who wanted to remain anonymous due to fear that his/her position in the school might be in jeopardy.
Prior to the final countdown for the election, the Department of Residence Life asked their RA staff to distribute absentee ballot applications. According to a second RA who also wished to remain anonymous, “our job was to distribute the absentee ballot applications to each resident on our floor depending on their state.” This was supposed to get students involved in the upcoming election, as well as to help students get applications needed in order to cast their votes. “This job was given to us but we were given a reward if we had a certain amount of ‘intent to vote’ forms signed and returned,” said the second RA.
Confusion first began because some students thought it was the RA’s job to collect the applications and send them out, when in fact, according to the RA, “It wasn’t our job to collect [applications]. [The students] could mail the applications off themselves to get the ballots or take them down to Student Life.” The RA understood that if students took ballot requests to Student Life, the requests would be forwarded to proper town clerks.
Miscommunication within the Department of Student Life left some students with a sense of responsibility towards the RAs and Student Life itself after not receiving their ballots.
According to one student, these inefficiencies could have been avoided if students from Student Senate and the Pre-law club had been let into the process. “I think there were so many people that wanted to help, other clubs wanted to get involved but they were ignored,” said Student Senate representative and Pre-law club member Mara Smith.
Students questioned who was responsible for the absence of absentee ballots. “I don’t know if it was the school’s fault. Some people who [registered] through the school got their ballots. Others, unfortunately, didn’t. I’m not sure who to blame in the end,” said the first anonymous RA who did not receive a ballot.
Assistant Director of Residence Life Kyle Pretsch was contacted in person and via e-mail to comment on this issue, but no response was provided.
The day before Election Day, as students were still waiting for absentee ballots, students Melissa Markstrom and Rob Pudner were sitting in Whithey Hall and helping people to get home to vote through a last-minute Ride Share effort. “It was my civic duty to make sure everybody’s vote counted,” said Pudner. Students as far away as Pennyslvania, Georgia, and Texas came out to say they never received their absentee ballots.
Some students were able to get home and cast their vote through Ride Share. Ronnie Black was one of them. “I went to New Hampshire to make sure my vote was submitted on Election Day. I voted before noon,” said Black.
In the end, even though students felt their voices were taken away, the results were what many of them were hoping for. The first anonymous RA reflected on how much more pleased he/she was with this election than the 2004 elections, “Naïve 18-year-olds who didn’t vote four years ago should have voted. When they realized the results it was like a ‘kick yourself’ kinda moment.” This time, “I was excited for two things: one, that Barack Obama was elected president and two, more Americans voted in this election than any other election.”
