10:00 am: Life goes on, even on election day

On the surface of the day, things appear to be normal. Students are going to class (hopefully), teachers are teaching (hopefully), and the leaf blower machine is making a ruckus around campus (necessarily). It’s a good day to be here at Southern Oregon University — like pretty much all days.

But below the surface of this day is a feeling of excitement. A few students gather outside the Stevenson Union with their signs and dancing ballot box. Text messages come in from students talking about what they will be doing later in the day. A student thoughtfully fills out a ballot, while others stop by the Voters Coalition table to pick up some “swag” or stuff. There are vote buttons and lollipops here — a nice combination. I’ve always thought election day should be a national holiday like Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl. It seems just as important a day. We could all take the day off to eat, drink, and gather around our wide screen televisions to grumble or cheer on our candidates. What a day we could have.

Jen'r Horste fills out her ballot in front of the Stevenson Union Tuesday.

Economics Professor Doug Gentry asks, “In most other states people have to stand in line at a polling place. Yet some say that the physical act of going to vote builds a stronger sense of community. They argue that Oregon’s system of mail ballots takes that away from us. What do you think?”

Having the day off would be a good way to build community. In Oregon, the convenience of knowing your vote is collected in a less technologically dependent form may be comforting for some. From what we’ve seen on television and the Web, waiting in line to vote may be a form of community building, but not necessarily the most effective in terms of interaction. Instead of waiting in line at a polling place, people in Oregon are using their time in different ways. For example, our students are attending at least 8 or more election night gatherings. Although these communities are pretty homogeneous ideologically, at least people exercise their right to assemble.

One thing that I truly believe helps to bring people together is the use of new media such as text messaging and social networking. It’s a much different form of community though. Online communities are not the same as face-to-face interactions, but they are still a public space where conversations happen.

Student election coverage begins

More than 40 journalism university and seminar students gathered monday in the Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University to discuss upcoming election coverage. Beginning in the late afternoon tuesday, students will be reporting from more than 9 separate locations throughout the Rogue Valley. throughout the evening students will use e-mail, text messaging, ,instant messaging, and social networking to report on the local races as well as the general feeling of the elections in the community.

Rogue Valley Television staff rehearses for election coverage. From (left), Brandon Givens, Cynthia Salbato and Paul Steinle.

Don’t count them out: Young people register in record numbers

Young people don’t vote. At least, until now.

Today, the vote youth represents 22 percent of all eligible voters. At the same time, getting more than 9 million newly registered voters to the polls on election day to cast ballots will not necessarily be a sure thing. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal, NBC News and MySpace survey suggests only 54% of new voters said they would definitely vote on Nov. 4. Since 2000, young voter participation has steadily increased. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) more than 6.5 million young people participated in the primaries and causes, nearly doubling voter turnout compared to the 2000 primary. According to the group Young Democrats of America, 18-to-29-year old voters will make up one=third of the electorate by 2015.

Aggressive voter registration drives aimed toward young people, changes in voter registration processes aas well as strong interest in the elections, are significant factors influencing how may 18-to-29-year-olds will vote, research suggests. At the same time, counting on the youth vote is challenging for many political campaigns. Researchers Allison Dale and Aaron Strauss found young people rely far more exclusively on mobile communications such as e-mail, text messaging, social networking, and instant messaging than older generations. Moreover, the researchers found that younger voters are more likely to respond to passive communication such as text messaging than messages sent via U.S. mail or conventional phone canvassing.

Can a strong showing of young voters at the polls tip give one candidate an edge over another?

Barack Obama is counting on it. In a recent AP-Yahoo News poll, 60 percent of youth likely to vote say they support Obama, while 33 percent will choose John McCain. Both campaigns have focused on courting the youth vote, but historically democrats hold an edge over rival parties. In the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry won 54 percent of the youth vote compared with Bush’s 45.

At Southern Oregon University, voting coalition groups have registered more than 1,300 young people since September. Across the state, youth voter turn out in 2006 was 7 percent higher than in 2000.

Measure 56

Measure 56 would repeal the double-majority rule on all primary and general elections sponsored by Bill Sizemore in 1996. For Jeff Alworth, “Measure 56 really poses a philosophical question to voters: who should have the right to make law in Oregon–those who vote or those who can’t be bothered?” Joseph Frazier of the Associated Press reports, ” Supporters say it’s not right for tax increases to be imposed on people if most don’t bother to vote….Critics say the law makes it unnecessarily difficult for local districts to raise tax money, especially in a state that makes it exceptionally easy to vote. Oregon is the only state where all voting is done by mail, and every registered voter is mailed a ballot.”

Many of the states largest newspapers are endorsing the measure. In editorial in the Oregonian, “Measure 56 on the fall ballot would repair an undemocratic Oregon rule known as the “double majority.” The Medford Mail Tribune takes a similar stand, “‘Double majority’ rule good for the ‘no new taxes’ crowd, but not for Oregon. Besides, it’s not how democracy works.” Further, The Bend Bulletin contends, “Many casualties of the double-majority requirement do pass eventually, often by crowding onto the ballot during a simple-majority election. But rationing democracy in this fashion is both offensive and, it seems to us, harmful even to those who support the double majority.”

Opponents of Measure 56 respond by saying passage would weaken a law which has stopped numerous tax hikes from coming to fruition. A “No” vote would maintain the double-majority rule that requires a 50 percent turn out as well as a majority of votes favoring a potential tax hike.

Read more about Ballot Measure 56 on Ballotpedia.

Democrats poised to dominant both House and Senate: Magazine predicts

The Economist is predicting that this election may put them in control of both the House and Senate.

“Although most attention is paid to the presidential race, another hefty political battle is rolling on: the congressional race. The Democrats captured Congress in the 2006 elections, as voters turned against George Bush and the Republican Party. Two years have done little to soften their views. The Democrats are poised to turn small majorities in both chambers into dominant ones, perhaps realigning American politics for many years.”

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