ASUM pushes for voter registration

This spring, registering to vote may be easier for University of Montana students if the UM administration approves ASUM’s idea to add a voter registration option to Cyberbear.

ASUM president Dustin Leftridge said when students register for fall classes there will be an added step to the registration process that will ask if the student would like to register to vote. If “yes” is selected a form requesting personal information will appear on the screen. Students can fill in the information, which is automatically put into a voter registration form, print it out and mail it.

Students will be given the option not to register. The final details have not yet been decided.

Leftridge said students’ addresses tend to change throughout their college careers and because in Missoula County ballots come in the mail, if students have moved they won’t receive their ballots and won’t be able to vote in that election. The voter registration option on Cyberbear would allow students to re-register to vote once a semester if their address has changed.

“Students should have their voices heard,” Leftridge said.

The form that would appear on the screen during the registration process would be a widget modeled from the Rock the Vote widget. This non-profit, non-partisan organization encourages young people to get involved with political issues. Their goal is to register two million youth voters by the presidential election, said Chrissy Faessen, the organization’s media contact.

The Rock the Vote widget would be customized specifically for UM students.

ASUM senator Alex Gosline came up with the idea to add the widget to Cyberbear after he attended a three-day seminar with Campus Progress last summer in Washington, D.C. At the seminar there was a representative from Rock the Vote challenging universities to register the most student voters by the presidential election. Their incentive was to reward the winning university with a large concert, said Gosline.

He decided that somehow incorporating a voter registration on Cyberbear would be the best way to reach everyone and give all students a chance to register.

Gosline pitched his idea to Matt Singer, CEO of Forward Montana, who then discussed with Leftridge how to make it happen. 

Leftridge met with the UM administration Monday morning and presented the idea to them. Gosline said the administration was behind the idea and sounded excited for it.

“Everyone is on board,” Leftridge said.

UM Legal Counsel is working with ASUM and Rock the Vote is working with the information technology office to sort out any problems.

According to an article in the Missoulian, associate vice president and chief information technology officer Ray Ford voiced concerns about viruses and security issues.

Leftridge said that one of Ford’s main concerns was the capacity of the Rock the Vote widget. If 5,000 students use the widget at the same time while registering for classes, the Rock the Vote tool could cause Cyberbear to crash, resulting in registration time lost. Rock the Vote told Singer and Leftridge that on Super Tuesday more than 30,000 people used the tool to register to vote without any problems.

Leftridge’s goal is to integrate the widget into Cyberbear by April 14, when students start registering for classes. Ford thought September would be a better goal to have it up and running.

Last semester ASUM registered more than 500 students to vote by approaching people around the Oval, in dorms, and by having the Rock the Vote widget on the ASUM website.

Integrating the widget into Cyberbear would make it easier for students to register, Leftridge said.

Unlike UM, the University of California system is required under the federal law to provide all students attending higher education institutes with a voter registration card and to make the cards easily accessible on campus.

Adding the widget to Cyberbear is a starting point for UM, Leftridge said.

The first step is to integrate the system into Cyberbear, then find a system where students don’t have to mail the form in, but could drop it off in secure boxes around campus and ASUM would take care of it. There are legal technicalities attached to that idea that will take more time and research to figure out, he said.

“Students are active community members and we do have a right to have our voices heard,” Leftridge said. “I hope students utilize this tool.