Between now and Election Day, expect a phone call or a flier slipped under your door reminding you to vote.

With experts stressing the importance of the youth vote this year, groups on and around the Syracuse University campus are taking last-minute steps to ensure all students use their opportunity to participate in the election.

Austin Paulnack, a member of Syracuse MoveOn, an affiliate of MoveOn.org, is working to educate students living in residence halls about the correct location to vote.

‘There’s so much interest in voting this year,’ Paulnack said. ‘We are trying to get at least 80 percent of the students to show up to the polls.’

Because of the way voting districts are drawn, students living in Shaw, Dellplain, Haven, Booth, Watson, Marion and Kimmel halls are zoned to vote in the Schine Student Center. Students who live in Day, Flint, Lawrinson, Sadler, Brewster and Boland halls are required to vote in the Toomey Abbott Towers.

Sam Eschenbrenner, a sophomore political science major and member of the College Democrats, is working with Paulnack to start a get-out-the-vote movement before Tuesday.

Eschenbrenner said Paulnack provided him with lists of registered voters in residence halls and their room numbers so he can distribute fliers with polling information door to door.

‘We’re going to get everyone to vote,’ Eschenbrenner said.

Apart from this, Eschenbrenner said the College Democrats will be distributing information about Dave Valesky, the Democratic candidate running for New York state Senate.

To prevent confusion on Election Day, members of the New York Public Interest Research Group will stand outside Schine with posters informing students where they need to vote, according to Tim Marvin, the NYPIRG project coordinator.

‘I don’t think everyone will realize they can’t vote in Schine,’ Marvin said. ‘We’re going to be visible at the election.’

To get the word out on a larger scale, NYPIRG members have sent out more than 800 letters to registered SU students last week reminding them to vote. NYPIRG also has a list of 600 phone numbers they plan to call by this Tuesday, Marvin said.

NYPIRG has registered 1,930 SU students to vote since the beginning of the fall semester and will continue to assist them in voting, Marvin said.

For students living in Flint, Day and other remotely located residence halls, Marvin said that NYPIRG members would provide transportation to and from polling places.

‘We’ll have cars available outside the dorms to take people to Toomey (and Schine),’ Marvin said.

Published on October 28, 2004 at 12:00 pm