Students Discuss Voter Motivation at the U

Aug 08, 2008 by KCPW

(KCPW News) Student government leaders and activists from Utah's colleges and universities are meeting today and tomorrow at the University of Utah to learn strategies for motivating people to vote this election year. The Chicago-based Student Empowerment Training Project is in town to teach them how to run voter registration campaigns. Andrew Jenson with the Associated Students of the University of Utah says it's an exciting time.

"We have representation from almost every university from around the state, which is going to be very neat because we'll be able to get a lot of feedback and a lot of sharing of information on how we can effectively wage our voter registration campaigns on our campuses," said Jenson.

The U is partnering with several local groups for this weekend's conference, including the Hinckley Institute of Politics and the lieutenant governor's Commission on Civic and Character Education.

University of Utah students are running one voter participation strategy this year that will benefit everyone who wants to avoid long lines on election day.

"We have an early voting booth that we're going to have on campus two weeks prior to the election, and in fact, everyone in Salt Lake County can actually come vote here. We'll get people registered to vote, and then we'll make it as easy as possible for them to actually go and vote," said Jenson.

Jenson says many students at the U. are not only excited about the presidential election, but also campaigning for local candidates as well.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Election Coverage, and Election 2008. Copyright 2009 KCPW