Vote OR Vote has almost tripled the status in comparison to last years’ 400 students. The 1,100 students are from all four branches of Central Oregon Community College, including Madras, Prineville, and Bend and Redmond campuses.

According to Miranda Baglien, a volunteer for Vote OR Vote, the Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College are not concerned with how students vote.

“We are non-partisan,” Baglien said. “We definitely care that they feel empowered to vote, not which party they vote with.”

Baglien has been helping with the campaign for the past few weeks.

“I was interested in … the benefits that students get because of the vote campaign,” Baglien said.

While students may not see the benefits in voting, according to Baglien, it has its rewards.

Students with a political voice are able to help “future financial aid become more accessible and ‘bust up’ and tuition fees go down,” according to Baglien.

Benefits for involvement?

For Baglien, the benefits of the spring campaign were more than getting COCC students to vote.

“I got a lot more out of it than I thought I would,” Baglien said. “It’s fun, you get a group of people in the quad and play music and just dance around. It’s not like you have to have a stern face,” Baglien said.

Next year, ASCOCC will be looking for more help to continue Vote OR Vote.

“There are a lot of volunteering opportunities for the campaign,” Baglien said. “Through volunteering you yourself get excited about voting.”

For students registered to vote, the next step is to get ballots turned in on time. The deadline is May 20th. Students can bring their filled out ballots to the quad up until 8:00 p.m. on May 20th to have them turn them in.

Miranda Maricle | The Broadside
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