College students vote early via satellite

Who said student's don't care?

Politically active students at Luther College in are working hard to register their peers and make it easier for them to vote this cycle. These students have set up tables around campus and visited all the residence halls, encouraging students to vote early through a new satellite system on campus.

Satellite voting is an increasing trend this year, especially with an expected increase in voter turnout. The purpose is to give easier access to early voters, avoiding the process of getting an absentee ballot or not being able to make it to the polls on November 2. Sites include universities, libraries and other public places.

By setting up an early-vote system via satellite, students can no longer claim that it is too difficult to vote by absentee ballots, nor can they claim that they didn't know about the system.
The early satellite vote at Luther College will take place October 7.

“The advantage is obvious: voting turnouts in America have been low for some time and the argument is that with fewer barriers more people will vote,” says John Moeller, professor of political science and director of Ethics and Public Life. “This is true for a lot of groups but certainly applies to college students if there is a satellite spot set up on campus.”

The biggest concern with the satellite system is that the voting process is slipping towards privatization and away from a public initiative. Voting should be compelling process, in which all able Americans take part. But with low voter turnout (even with the expected increase this year, the numbers certainly won't break 50%), how else do we as a society encourage voting? Do we acquiesce to apathy and increase voting with the risk of privatization or do we continue with out-dated but more participatory methods? Should only those people with the greatest desire to vote get the chance or do we uphold our value that all citizens should have the right and the access to vote?