If David Quaid '06 has his way, Dartmouth students' absentee ballots won't all be postmarked from Hanover this November.
Quaid is leading a project that aims to encourage students participating in language and foreign study programs this fall to vote in the November election.
Quaid asked members of the Young Democrats' BlitzMail list for the contact information of friends participating in language studies abroad or foreign study programs this fall. He received 30 responses from Dartmouth students on campus and two from students on off-terms who wanted help voting as a New Hampshire resident from their homes.
He then e-mailed the students whose contact information he received and attached a New Hampshire absentee ballot request form, as well as links to other states' request forms. Quaid has now contacted at least one person in each program operating this term, except for the Portuguese FSP in Salvador, Brazil.
The junior said the registration drive is just another way to encourage voter turnout among College students.
"I think that voting is really important for people our age, and no one else was doing this yet," Quaid said, adding that voters abroad have a perspective on this election that Americans at home lack.
"People abroad have a better vision of America's role in the world and a much better idea about what America is doing," he said.
As a group, Quaid said, Americans abroad are more interested in voting in this election, in part due to how tightly-contested the 2000 election was, and in part due to the large international implications of this election.
Although a staunch Kerry supporter himself, Quaid stressed that being a Kerry supporter is not a requirement to have his voting assistance.
"We're sending this out to everybody," he said.
This project. though, may provide an advantage to Kerry, as Quaid only contacted the Young Dems for contact information. Quaid came to Dartmouth this fall determined "to devote all my energy in the first month of my fall term to give Kerry any possible advantage."
Either way, Quaid takes comfort in helping fellow students cast votes they might otherwise have neglected.
