With only four days until Election Day the College Republicans and the College Democrats have stepped up their get-out-the-vote efforts by registering voters, manning phone banks around the state and going door-to-door talking to voters.
Turnout among younger voters has been disproportionately low in past elections. But many students feel that this election, which has the potential to change the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, is going to be different.
"I think there is a lot of apathy on campus not only towards these elections, but to politics in general. The lack of enthusiasm is definitely understandable, since politicians have long neglected young voters, who tend not to be as active or vote in as high numbers," College Democrats Vice President Dave Glovsky '08 said. "However, I think students recognize this election is very different than past ones, with important national issues and the vision of the country at stake."
While the College Republicans and College Democrats have supported candidates on the national level in the past, their main focus this election falls on the congressional race between incumbent Charlie Bass '74 (R-N.H.) and Paul Hodes '72.
Bass' seat has become increasingly competitive in the last several weeks. The Cook Political Report, an independent non-partisan newsletter, recently moved the race from its "lean republican" column to the "toss up" category.
"I think that this race is important because Bass is fairly independent. If he loses his seat it's indicative of a broader change. I think if we lose this race we have a very small chance of holding the House," College Republicans President Rahul Sangwan '07 said. "The reason we're focusing a lot of our efforts on this race is that it is more efficient for us to help him than some other Republican candidates."
On Monday the College Republicans traveled to Manchester to attend a rally with fellow Republican volunteers from around the state. Senators Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.) headlined the pro-Bass event along with First Lady Laura Bush, with whom the students met privately.
Both groups have also been involved with manning phone banks and canvassing neighborhoods for their respective candidates.
On Tuesday and Thursday the College Republicans sent students to Lebanon, N.H., to phone bank for Bass. Tomorrow the group plans to send students to Concord to go door-to-door talking to voters and to Lebanon to distribute literature at over 4,000 houses.
The College Democrats will also spend all day Saturday and Sunday reaching out to voters.
"On Saturday we are going up to Lebanon to canvass in the morning and will be canvassing on campus in the late afternoon. On Sunday we are driving down to Nashua to canvass, and again canvassing on campus that evening," said Adam Patinkin '07, who is the president of the College Democrats of New Hampshire. "On Monday we are planning a final on-campus 'dorm storm' before Election Day hits on Tuesday."
The College Democrats are also going door-to-door on campus to tell students about their voting rights and why they should vote for Hodes.
"We're really making an effort to get people out to the polls by knocking on every door on campus. It's incredibly important that students make their voice heard on Election Day, and we're getting that message out by talking one-on-one with other students every day through Nov. 7," College Democrats dormitory canvassing coordinator Vanessa Sievers '10 said.
Some students said they would not have registered to vote were it not for this bipartisan registration effort.
"College life is pretty busy, so it's nice to have people that take care of your registration. Having a College Democrat come to my room and help fill out all my forms was very handy," Abbe Sokol '10 said.
On Election Day the College Democrats, College Republicans and Student Assembly will sponsor rides to the polls leaving from 13 selected locations every 10 minutes from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The voting location this year has moved from Hanover High School, where it was located in past years, to Richmond Elementary School.