College Projects Aims to Increase Student Votes

After spending two years in the Czech Republic--a former Communist country where people are "so excited" about the right to vote for a party and a candidate--Trevor D. Dryer '02 realized "how often we as Americans take our citizenship [and voting rights] for granted."

Dryer turned his observation into political action, creating one of two new ways students can register to vote in November's general elections.

Dryer, along with fellow IOP members Heather A. Woodruff '03, Clarke Tucker '03, Colin P. Eyre '03, and Jonathan R. Levin '03 will staff a table at registration this fall, distribuing voter registration forms and absentee ballots to the class of 2004.

In addition to Dryer's get-out-the-vote effort, the College's Office of the Registrar has placed voter registration forms on its website, partly as a way of complying with federal law.

According the website, "The Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998 requires universities to make a good faith effort to make voter registration forms available to you."

The website provides links to both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Election Commission.

Both initiatives aim to increase voter participation among younger citizens, which has stagnated in previous election cycles.

In 1996, 54.2 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots. For 18-to-24 year-olds, only 32.4 percent bothered to vote.

"I think more Harvard students will vote, especially if the process is made easier and more accessible," Dryer wrote.

Dryer said registering to vote at college is often difficult.

"[The] process is not that user-friendly," he wrote.

Obtaining registration forms and absentee ballots can prove a complicated and time-consuming task, according to Dryer.

He is aware of the registration forms that have been made available to students on the Registrar's website, but wrote in a recent e-mail message, "we felt it did not go far enough."

"This will make the process much easier and give students a way to take care of the entire process in a matter of minutes," Dryer wrote.

First-year students will be able to fill out registration forms for their home state, since the government provides a generic form that is valid for nearly every state.

Students can also request absentee ballots with a separate form. Their state will then send the voter a ballot before the November election.

Dryer's project is not the first effort to increase the number of Harvard students who vote.

"We've been conducting voter registration drives for the last several years (going door to door), which is a hit and miss situation," Dryer wrote.

This program only targets first years, but in four years' time, Dryer said he hopes that all undergraduates will have the opportunity to register and to obtain absentee ballots.

"Perhaps we can work with other organizations later to expand it to the graduate schools," Dryer added.