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October 14, 2000 State officials step up activities Frances Starkey DES MOINES, Iowa -- With the 2000 presidential election less than a month away and the race remaining tight among the candidates, state officials are succeding in their push to get Iowans to register to vote. In the 1996 general election, more than 1.7 million Iowans were registered to vote. As of Oct. 1, 2000 more than 1.8 million Iowans were registered. "It's your civic duty [to vote]," said Eric Bakker, legislative liaison and press secretary in the secretary of state's office. "There are people in the world who are dying for the right to vote. Look at some of the votes that took place in some of the these countries that first got the chance to vote in Africa this year; we saw lines snaking out the doors. People stood in lines for hours. We're seeing it again in Yugoslavia in the last two weeks. For the first time they have an election, they get these high turnout rates. It's important, someone has always decided for them; we take that for granted. It's important to vote; it dictates your future. It is a civic duty and one that everyone should do with pride." To increase Iowans' voting, Bakker and Secretary of State Chet Culver have been touring Iowa with their "Four Ways to Vote" campaign. "My goal is to make Iowa No. 1 in voter participation," Culver said in a press release about his recent voter registration campaign. "I encourage all Iowans to let their voices be heard by casting their ballots in the upcoming general election." Bakker said, "What we have done and what we do prior to every election in this state is a week to 10 days before the election the secretary gets in his car, gets on the road and we line up media interviews. He reminds Iowans of the upcoming election, why it's important to vote, where to vote. We send out releases to the media. … We have done several things this year." Culver, who also serves as the state commissioner of elections and the state register of voters, has been going to high schools, colleges and shopping malls reminding Iowans they can vote on election day at their precinct polling place, vote by absentee ballot, vote early at their county auditor's office and vote by satellite prior to the election day where you can register and vote on the same day. Besides the "Four Ways to Vote" campaign, Culver and Bakker are implementing other programs to increase voter registration. This year Aug. 26, Women's Suffrage Day, was also voter registration day. In a press release, Culver called lack of voter participation a state crisis. "Nearly 400,000 voting-age Iowans are not registered to vote," Culver said. "In addition, about 600,000 Iowans, who were registered to vote in 1998, failed to do so. Iowa Voter Registration Day is one way we can highlight the importance of voting while giving thousands of Iowans the opportunity to register to vote." The Voter Registration Commission is a support group for Culver's campaign. Those involved in the commission come up with promotional ideas, organize programs and mostly, do anything to help Culver raise the voter registration numbers in Iowa. On the weekend of Oct. 14, approximately 50 billboards donated by 10 companies with the Voter Registrration Commission's logo "Go Vote! If you don't, who will?" went up around the state. Culver will also be doing public service announcements for cable TV, and Bakker said he hopes the radio as well. Also, the Voter Registration Commission has placed its "Go Vote!" logo on all grocery bags in Dahls, Hy-Vee and Fareways, reminding people to go vote. Bakker said a major promotion the commission is doing now is in the creation of the Iowa Student Political Awareness Club. ISPAC is a group of more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high school students. The commission is holding a mock election with ISPAC, and more than 30,000 students have signed up to vote in the election on Nov. 2. "We're trying to increase young people involvement, to get them active early and engaged in the political process," Bakker said. "We're also doing a presidential forum on Monday with about 2,000 students from 70 high schools." The political parties are also doing things to increase voter registration and voting in general as well. "There are a number of things that a state party can do," said Ann Dougherty, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa. "In each area of the party we all do things to encourage registration. Right now we've been doing a huge absentee ballot drive. We also have helped the top 15 to 20 counties get off the ground as far as getting people to register and setting up the polls. A lot of that also involves phone banks where we can call people and make them aware of what's going on. For new voters, we've reached out to them on our Web site. People can sign on and print registration forms. This is a battleground state, so registration is very important." The Republican Party of Iowa has been focusing on trying to get young people to vote. "We have taken various trips to high schools to try to increase political awareness," Dougherty said. "Our college Republican representative gets invitations to come and speak at a lot of high schools so he goes and speaks about registering and voting." Bakker said the commission has focused on the youth as well. Over the past 40 years, voter participation has steadily declined, especially among young voters, Bakker said. Voter turnout for the 1996 general election was one of the worst ever with more than 100 million eligible voters staying away from the polls. In particular, of the 25 million eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 25, fewer than 5 million of them decided not to vote, Bakker said. The election is Nov. 7; the deadline to register is Saturday, Oct. 28. You must be 17 1/2 years old, a U.S. citizen and a resident of Iowa. "Everything we do all day long is affected and touched in some way by government," Dougherty said. "You really need to be active in that. It's an obligation if you want to have an effect or change anything. You have to register; you have to vote." |