Student groups push voters to polls throughout Election Day, then gather in suspense at night
By Tara Brailey and Gisselle Chang · The Johns Hopkins News-Letter · November 8, 2008
Election Day, as it approached, was anticipated with fervent preparation. From phone banking for Obama to canvassing for John McCain, Hopkins students worked to piece together a dedicated base for their respective candidates.
In addition to these activities, College Democrats and College Republicans co-hosted the Election Watch Party with JHU Votes to wrap up the Election Tuesday, which all three groups have been working towards since the school year started.
Together, the groups set up an election center that offered students transportation to the polls and updates on the election throughout the day. Students also had the option to phone bank with the College Democrats, while other students went canvassing in Virginia with the College Republicans.
"[The election center] was great and had the highest turnout of any event like it in the past. Professors said they had never been to a political event on campus with such great turnout," President of JHU Votes Sophie Shulman said.The Big Day at Homewood
Daniel Barash, president of the College Democrats, reported that throughout Election Day the College Democrats made over 2,500 phone calls on behalf of the Obama campaign to the battleground state Pennsylvania.
"When Obama won Pennsylvania, it was the beginning of a great night because a lot of our efforts had been focused there," Barash said. "Our main focus has been on the swing states. Pennsylvania, with its 21 electoral votes, is very important."
The groups spread the word about the events on Election Day through banners on the breezeway, Flash ads at the library, murals, necklaces, mugs and flyers. Shulman also cited Facebook as an important advertising tool.
The election center provided both groups with a site from which they could conduct their final get-out-the-vote efforts before the polls closed.
"The College Democrats have been very active in planning the Election Center and publicity. We got lists from various states to call for Obama," Barash said. "We really tried to show students at Hopkins the influence they have over this election."
Prior to Election Day the groups were also actively involved in working to encourage political awareness. All three groups were involved in hosting debate watching parties at Nolan's that drew considerable crowds.
The debate that the College Democrats and College Republicans held provided information about the candidates' stances on pressing issues, as well as discussed the fundamental differences between the two parties.
Currently Hopkins students are assigned to three different polling locations. JHU Votes hopes to make voting easier for students by making it possible for the majority of students to be able to vote on campus.
Shulman also spoke of the choice students face between voting in their home state and voting in Maryland, where they would have a say in local issues affecting them during their time at Hopkins.
"A lot of freshmen have been involved, which has been great. Many underclassmen are involved and many people who do not regularly attend meetings have also helped out in registering voters," she said.
From campus to canvas
Members of the College Republicans spent the day in Virginia canvassing throughout the state. About five members went to Loudoun County while four other members went to Southern Virginia.
"Canvassing and meeting voters are fun regardless of the outcome of the election," Evan Lazerowitz, president of the College Republicans, said.
Lazerowitz said that overall he and the College Republicans were disappointed in the results of the election, but still have other issues to focus on.
"We are still waiting on the results on the First Congressional District in Maryland where Andy Harris is running. We helped out Andy Harris quite a bit," Lazerowitz said.
"We knocked on over 800 doors of residents in Northeast Philadelphia and made over 1,000 calls. We speak to a lot of white, working class votes and try to make them feel more comfortable with the Obama and Biden campaign," Barash said.
JHU Votes worked with other student and multicultural groups and participated in events like Hopkins Engaged to spread the word about being politically active in the weeks leading up to the election.
"We tried to remind people constantly of how important this election is, especially at Hopkins where people are so busy. We wanted to remind people that it is really easy to vote and that this is a really historic election," Shulman said.
At the end of the road
After the polls closed, the Charles Commons Ballroom filled with over 400 students enjoying free food, listening to professors speak on panels, enjoying the music of DJ Lucky Strike and awaiting the results of the 2008 Presidential Election.
Stephanie Hsu, a sophomore coordinator of the event, expressed her surprise and delight at the Election Watch's success in drawing a large and enthusiastic crowd.
"The students were really engaged with the professors and people really got into asking questions. We had a list of prepared questions but abandoned them and just let the students ask questions," Shulman said.
"We wanted to have an event to unite the community and show that we aren't politically apathetic even though we did think that Hopkins students are politically apathetic," she explained. "We had equal numbers of people from each class, the panel was fantastic, and we even got a Baltimore news station to come in."
Nick Gilson, president of the sophomore class, and other organizers of the event hoped for at most 400 students to stop by throughout the night.
The event, which spanned the entire day, started with an Election Center open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Mattin Center, then moved to the Charles Commons ballroom for a question-and-answer session with a panel of professors at 8 p.m. and ended with three large projection screens reporting the results as they came in.
Sophomores Juliette Eisner and Pauline Koningsveld spearheaded the event hoping to engage the student population and dispel the political apathy that has reportedly plagued Hopkins.
"We were really talking one day about how much fun it would be for everyone to watch it together," Eisner explained. "This is a hugely historical election and it would be very strange if the campus didn't do something," she added.
"It's one of the biggest elections in our lifetime, and we just want to get people to watch it and care; sort of combat the apathy," Koningsveld agreed.
Together with the Student Council, students including Koningsveld, Eisner, Mark Dirzulaitis, Max Dworin, Dan DeLeon, Abby Duggan and Nick Gilson, completely planned the event from securing funds, which came from the Students Activities Office as well as an anonymous alumnus, to mass advertising.
Eisner explained that besides the students giving out beads and stickers, Hopkins professors were involved in spreading the word about the Election Watch Event.
"We have a bunch of professors who are really excited for the event. Some are attending; some are going to give extra credit to their students for attending," she said. "A bunch put up slides at the end of their lecturers advertising the event."
While it is unknown whether four years ago, or further in the past, a similar event has been organized, it is certain that the Election Watch '08 was the first to have been so successful in achieving such high levels of attendance.
Eisner confirmed that "there's definitely been nothing of this magnitude before."
Gilson attributed the success to Dean Burger and the administrative support for putting the event together. The administrative push joined the student interest not only in making the Election Watch happen, but also in making it happen so successfully.
Students who attended the event attested to its success in bringing the community together and enthusiastically voiced surprise and pride in the display of political interest.
Sophomore Dana Mariani felt that the event united students and engaged them in a way that was contagious.
"The people in this room are all capable of actively changing what's going on, on the screen," she explained. "This is really exciting; I feel like we're becoming unified in believing that America needs to change. I feel the positive tension in the room," she said.
"It's a great success; it proves that Hopkins students are really engaged. They have a real interest in seeing who's elected," Sam Lichtenstein of the JHU Politik, the campus' weekly political publication, agreed.
While some students stated that the event did little to galvanize the politically apathetic, as perhaps the people who attended the event were those already politically engaged, the sheer number of students who did attend cannot be denied as a sign of political interest on campus.
"I think it's important that people get involved even if it's just for today," Gilson said.
The political groups discussed their plans for after the election and how they plan on keeping the student population continuously involved in politics.
"One of [JHU Votes]'s goals is to get a lot of speakers on campus and keep up the excitement," Shulman said.
Barash said he believes that keeping students active in politics will be the biggest challenge the College Democrats face now that the election is over. He stressed how with an Obama victory it would be important for the group to push his agenda and elaborate on his views in regards to different issues.
"[This] is time for rebuilding in our party. We will be in non-campaign mode for the next few years so it will be a little different," Lazerowitz said.
"We will concentrate more on state things, national issues and social events to keep people interested. We will be working on the same things the Democrats are working on because they will have no elections either."