Pounce Online

Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Election Coverage

A bumper sticker supporting presidential hopeful Barack Obama is proudly displayed in the windshield of an Eastern student's automobile. (Seth Miller/Pounce Online)

Voting is a right that many people do not take advantage of. More than 40 percent of American citizens do not vote. This means that only a small portion of our population decides the leaders of our country.

"There are varies reasons why people do not vote," said Andrew McNitt, a political science professor at Eastern, "A major factor is how important the election is. It is always higher in the presidential elections than in others."

Many other factors influence the voter turnout. The more educated a person is the more likely they are to vote in an election. If a person is affiliated with a party, they are more likely to vote.

However, party affiliation is down. People no longer side with one party or another. They independent party is now growing. Legal restrictions also become a factor. Many people do not vote because they must go through many steps in order to vote such as registering.

However, this is changing. It is now easier than ever to vote. Many states are letting voters vote early and even some states, like Oregon, are letting their voters have an opportunity to vote through the mail. In the last few elections, voter turnout has been up.

"The trend of voting must be modified because of the last few elections where voting actually went up," McNitt said.

Voting is up to 60% in recent elections due to the interest of the elections and the way it is now easier to vote.

The primaries determine who will appear on the ballot for the 2008 presidential election. Hillary Clinton is leading for the Democrats and Rudy Giuliani is a lead in the Republicans. This could change in the primaries due to the amount of states voting earlier this year, including Illinois who will vote on February 5th, 2008.

"You know what happens when some calls fire in a crowded theatre and everyone runs to the exit and gets stuck in the door? Well, this is what's happening in the primaries," explain Dr. McNitt. "Many states feel that they are not getting the right amount of respect so they are making their primaries earlier and earlier."

This will make the February 5th election date not be a deciding in who will be on the ballot. It will be up to the states after this date to decide.

The campaign for many of the candidates has already started. However, many people are unsure of who they want to vote for.

"I think it is too early to decide," said freshman psychology major, Katelyn Benhoff. "I really don't know much about the candidates yet."

Students still have time to register to vote. In Illinois, a citizen must register within 27 days of the election in order to be able to vote. They will also need two forms of picture I.D.

"I'm not registered yet but I will be voting this time," says Benhoff.

For questions concerning voting registration, go to www.elections.il.gov

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