The OSA has registered a total of 49,000 college students during fall and spring terms.
Between these terms at Central Oregon Community College, the Oregon Student Association (OSA) and Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College (ASCOCC) registered 1,906 students to vote.
Throughout the state in 2014, Oregon students registered 55,000 of their peers, setting a record for the largest voter registration effort and have been creating it to become one of the largest electoral campaigns in all of Oregon.
This fall, ASCOCC members have been visiting classrooms on campus to explain the Vote OR Vote campaign that has had success in getting college students registered to vote, as well as getting them to actually send in the ballot when the time comes.
The ASCOCC students handed out registration cards, and through doing this, COCC registered 831 students during fall term alone.
“The students on your campus are amazing and are represented by a great group of students in the ASCOCC that put in a ton of extra work to ensure that they properly advocate for student rights at COCC, from the local to the statewide, and national level, the students at COCC have some great representation.” said Zach Hammer, Field Organizer for the OSA.
The notion behind the Vote OR Vote campaign, according to the campaign context provided by ASCOCC, was to involve students in a non-partisan voting initiative so that Oregon legislators notice Oregon students. When there is a large spike in the 18-25 age demographic and the initiative to vote on post-secondary education related issues, there is an increased need for legislation that will address those issues, regardless of the party affiliation each student has.
In 2014, Oregon saw increased investment in higher education after registering a record number of students, there was also a 20 percent increase in funding for need-based aid.
At COCC, there were a recorded 288 class presentations and 88 hours of clipboarding volunteered by students. As well as, approximately 300-400 combined hours of volunteer prep work.
McKayla Schneider | The Broadside
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