Political Organizations work together to register voters

Although junior Emily Sonenshine doesn't belong to a campus political party and doesn't work for any candidate's campaign, she took a few hours Tuesday and Wednesday to register a few hundred fellow students to vote. \nSonenshine, a member of the Indiana Israel Public Affairs Committee, worked the voter registration desk in the Union Commons area with other IIPAC members and members of College Republicans and College Democrats. More than 200 students registered Tuesday and Sonenshine estimated a similar number registered Wednesday.\nThe drive is likely to be one of the few times this semester that College Republicans and College Democrats will appear together for the same cause. IIPAC as an organization has not endorsed any candidates; its mission is to encourage development of positive U.S.-Israel relations.\nStudents who filled out the mail-in registration form will be able to vote for all Monroe County, Indiana and national candidates, regardless of where the students permanently live.\n"When students vote here, things are going to affect them here," Sonenshine said.\nJunior Nancy Steffan, a College Democrat from Wilmette, Ill., said she registered in Bloomington because, "I live here, and my vote in Indiana really does make a difference…the state races are really close, and (they) determine who will control the Indiana House."\nStudents who wish to vote in their home district's elections must obtain an absentee ballot. Interested students can register at election.com or at voter.com or find registration information through their local city council offices. The last day to register is Oct. 9.\nSonenshine and Matt Anderson, a sophomore, acknowledged that many students choose not to vote either because they feel uninformed about the candidates or don't think their individual vote will change the outcome of an election. \n"It's hard to get info from candidates," Anderson said. "And it's hard to be adequately informed when most of what you know comes from television news. They just don't have time to cover everything."\nStill, Anderson said students should take the time to educate themselves on the races. "If you don't vote, you automatically lose," he said.\nSonenshine added that candidates often don't focus their attention on younger generations of voters. But that won't stop her from going to the ballot box Nov. 7.\n"The more people who decide to be involved, the more things can happen," she said.\nJunior Jessica Roland said she was excited to vote in her first presidential election. "Politics are important…we're going to be out of college in a few years, and the things presidents decide will definitely impact us"