The Asian Student Union and the Minority Rights Coalition’s advocacy committees are hosting a Get Out The Minority Vote campaign this week to encourage minority students to vote in the November election.
Students have their pictures taken on the Lawn and explain why they chose to vote, and volunteers then turn this picture along with the student’s quote into a personalized Facebook profile picture. Get Out The Minority Vote will send these pictures back to the students along with a link to register to vote.
ASU Advocacy Chair Kevin Zeng, a third-year Engineering student, said the campaign specifically wanted to encourage University minority students due to lower turnout rates for younger voters.
“With our generation there’s always that perception that our vote doesn’t really matter,” Zeng said. “This campaign is really important in raising awareness to vote and combating the apathy that many college students face.”
In addition to the media campaign emphasizing the reasons why minority students vote, Zeng said Get Out The Minority Vote has a partnership with Rock the Vote, a non-profit organization, to help facilitate students in the voter registration process. Rock the Vote then tracks the number of students who register to vote through the Get Out the Minority Vote campaign, providing tangible numbers regarding the success of the campaign.
Geoffrey Skelley, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, said low minority turnout is a problem nationally, specifically with Asian American and Hispanic voters.
"If you look at census turnout rate, after every federal election they tell a very obvious story that turnout among minority groups is much lower than among non-Hispanic white voters," Skelley said.
Third-year College student Alexander Adames, vice president of advocacy for the Minority Rights Coalition, said elections lean certain ways depending on the engagement — or lack thereof — of minority groups.
“Ultimately it’s about voting for someone who will help guarantee and preserve the value of the American dream,” Adames said.
Students such as fourth-year Commerce student Ayah Manalastas said they participated in order to encourage other people to vote.
“I have a lot of hope for our generation that we can make changes in our history, and I want to be a part of that,” Manalastas said.
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