The Tragedy of Campus Voting

On Tuesday I was doing voter registration in the student union. An elderly man walked up to me and started talking about how he supports McCain. As our conversation progressed, he talked of a policeman who killed an IU football player many years ago. The policeman was later promoted by a democratic official. While the student body was furious that the police officer shot the student, they later willingly elected the official by voting a straight democrat ticket.

His comment made me think. The IU student body is about 40,000. That kind of voting force can create immense difference. Most students don't stick around in the college towns after their four-year servitude. However, those that live in the city are stuck with whatever choices those students make.

Most also don't know that you don't have to vote for every race on a ticket for your ballot to me valid. So they pull a straight ticket, having no knowledge of those races other than the major ones. Minor offices are decided by uninformed college students who just want to vote for president, leaving the citizens of the town with a government they may not have wanted.

Such is the case with this police officer. Most college students are indoctrinated with liberal ideals and the need to vote a straight ticket. They put a corrupt official in office and left without a goodbye. The man I talked to said that the person made many bad choices for the city.

After hearing from him, I agreed with his point: college students should not be allowed to vote at their school. They should either go home to vote, or vote absentee. They only live at school for half of the year, and are gone within four years. Why should their huge numbers be able to decide the future of a town?

Although, the low turnout of the youth vote may make this a mute point. So please, if you are a college student and plan to vote, don't pull a straight ticket for either party. Vote just for the races you care about. Let the citizens choose the rest.