Student voters from 'swing' states feel urgency of decision

As the countdown to election day comes to a close, many of the hundreds of University students who live in "swing" states are taking their right to vote very seriously and encouraging fellow residents to do the same.

Pre-election polls show President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry essentially tied in the race for electoral votes. As a result both campaigns are focusing on winning the states where the race is especially tight, like Florida, Ohio and New Mexico.

Before the absentee ballot deadline, Jing Jin '06 emailed all the on-campus Minnesotans — whose home state polls show leaning towards Kerry by only a small margin — to make sure they had filled out and mailed their absentee ballots.

Since Minnesota absentee ballots require the signature of another Minnesotan as witness, Jin's efforts were especially important, fellow Minnesotan Emily Parker '07 said.

When Floridian Caitlin Higgins '07 returned to her hometown of Vero Beach on the Atlantic coast over Fall Break, she saw campaign paraphernalia and posters "everywhere from the fronts of local businesses and homes to the backs of cars," she said.

Polls have shown Kerry and Bush to be tied in Florida.

When Higgins made use of Florida's early voting option on Oct. 27, she was surprised to encounter long lines. "I would have expected this in South Florida, but not in my town," she said.

"I think that voter turnout is going to be very large because everyone is so concentrated on making their vote count," Higgins said.

Floridian Jennifer Brea '05, echoed Higgins's analysis of the situation in her home state. She said there are many "very angry people" who were disenfranchised in the 2000 election but who want to make sure their votes count this time around.

Though she did not return home to Florida during Fall Break, Brea did volunteer near Orlando during the 2002 Congressional election. She heard "secondhand stories of flagrant election violations by people who had worked as poll monitors in 2000 and the use of 'they stole our vote' rhetoric to mobilize black voters."

Higgins said she saw no evidence of voter intimidation while voting last week. However, she said that a group of high school seniors holding pro-Bush signs at an intersection in her town were "accosted by a man who jumped out of his car with a shotgun and threatened to shoot them because he hated Bush."

Rachel Power '08 returned home to a divided house in East Grand Rapids, Mich. Her mother is actively campaigning for Kerry, but her father is a Libertarian who "would never vote for Kerry or Bush," she said.

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Power's mother attempted to convince her to "go around our neighborhood and get people to vote on Election Day and to put in a good word for Kerry," she said. But, she added, "I was too scared to campaign because my neighborhood is predominantly [pro-Bush]."

Gabe Collins '05 went home to southeast New Mexico during fall break. Neither he nor any of his close friends campaigned, but Collins was still barraged by presidential politics in a state where the race is also very close. "The television and phone ads were really laid on thick from both parties," he said. "Our house got at least seven phone messages every day."

Collins said he thinks Bush will win New Mexico by a small margin because the state's northern population centers, which traditionally vote Democratic, will be counterbalanced by conservative regions of the state like his. "If only my part of the state was counted, Bush would win by at least 10 percentage points," he said.

But other students from swing states have chosen to vote in Princeton. Grant Gittlin '08 of Boca Raton, Fla., chose to switch his registration to New Jersey.

"I feel that it's really important to support Evan Baehr in his bid for [Borough] Council because he will keep cops out of the eating clubs and help look out for students' interests in local government," he said.

"Since this presidential election is between two nitwits, I find it much more rewarding to know I would be making a difference in local politics which will have many more positive personal effects if Evan Baehr wins," he added.