Student turnout bolstered by energy group

Shortly after 5 p.m., senior environmental science major Alana Tenzer was rushing into City Hall to cast her city council ballot. She couldn’t talk just then, she said — she had to “beat the rush.”

City elections rarely see any “rush” of students: Student turnout in the council races historically struggle to top 50 voters. But about half an hour later, the UMD for Clean Energy’s “March to the Vote” rally made its way across the building’s downtown parking lot, prompting cars to honk their horns and cheer along as they passed. There was an estimated 80 students in that group alone.

The students, who were joined in their movement to vote by District 4 candidate Mary Cook and mayoral candidate Andy Fellows, met at the sundial on McKeldin Mall and listened to a speech by alumnus and founding member of UMD for Clean Energy Davey Rogner about the importance of exercising the right to vote.

“This shows that students are ready to connect with the city and citizens of College Park,” Rogner said in his speech.

The group’s ability to mobilize flew in the face of skeptics, such as reelected District 2 city councilman Bob Catlin who said he doubted the rally was going to happen.

“I’ve been here for so many elections, and they always say they’re going to bring out students, and it never happens,” he said earlier in the day.

But mayor-elect Andy Fellows said after marching to City Hall with students amid a flurry of green hard hats, sign spinners and bongo drums, he felt “fired up” by the rally.
“I have been in College Park since ‘91, and this is the most involved students have ever been,” Fellows said. “They’re focusing around a global issue, but this group was smart and organized locally.”

Chief Election Supervisor Jack Robson, who oversaw District 2 and 3 voting at City Hall, said that although official counts of student voters are not tallied, student turnout spiked during the UMD for Clean Energy rally.

“We had an influx around the time they had their march.  A lot of young people came in,” Robson said. “Maybe 30 of those greenies.”

Even those who did not participate in the march were inspired by the group’s efforts.

Junior finance major Carly Bender said a compelling argument by a UMD for Clean Energy spokesperson encouraged her to vote.  Bender, an out-of-state student from New York, now resides in District 3.

“We had a speaker from [Clean Energy] come to my sorority, and he explained how it doesn’t take a lot of votes to make a difference,” Bender said. “So I figured it was easy enough to vote and that my say would matter more here than for mayor of New York City or something.”

Though Bender also voted in the 2007 elections, she said she got most of her information about the candidates this year from UMD for Clean Energy’s website.

After witnessing the march, Catlin conceded that maybe he had been wrong about the possibility of piquing students’ interest.

“Maybe you can get people here for an issue, if not a candidate,” said Catlin to planning director Terry Schum.

Despite the organizers’ success, student turnout was still low relative to the number of permanent residents who showed up at the polls.

A non-voting student, who only gave his name as Alex, was downstairs at City Hall arguing about parking tickets and $350 in towing charges.

“F––– the city,” he said.  “I can’t wait to get out of this place.”

Alex said he didn’t care about the city because he was graduating in the spring.

Many students chose not to vote because they don’t consider College Park home.

“I didn’t even know they were having elections,” junior communication major London Faust said. “I don’t consider myself a resident here, so I’m still registered to vote in Baltimore City.”

Permanent residents of College Park, who monopolized the elections, said they cast their ballots to fulfill their civic duty and have a say in their community.

“I grew up hearing that adage, ‘If you don’t vote, then you can’t complain,’” said Chris Gordon, former owner of College Perk coffeehouse.

But Gordon, who recently moved from one part of the city to another, was afflicted with a problem some would-be student voters encounter: Polling officials told him that his updated address was not on file and that his ballot may not be counted as a result.

And though District 1 is the least student-heavy of the four districts, it grossed the highest number of voters, with estimates at 8 p.m. yesterday nearing 700. As a result, though there were no lines at polling stations for most of the day for Districts 2, 3, and 4, residents in District 1 sometimes saw substantial wait time.

District 2 councilman Jack Perry, who was reelected last night, was ultimately unimpressed with the rally turnout because marchers represent a very small portion of the student body.

“They should be lined coming out the door,” he said.

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