During recent drive, more Western students register to vote than at any other public university in Washington

More than 2,300 Western Washington University students have recently registered to vote, more than any other public university in Washington state.

The increase is due to a registration drive sponsored by the Associated Students Office of Representation and Engagement Programs and the Washington Student Association. The drive was part of a larger effort to ensure students are included in the upcoming election by updating existing voter’s information and registering first-time voters at Western.

“A large amount of Western students now can be secure in the knowledge that their voices will be heard in this year’s election because they will receive their ballot where they currently live,” said Patrick Stickney, Associated Students vice president for governmental affairs. “This is the largest voter registration drive that Western has done, and everybody who was involved should celebrate this tremendous achievement.”

The registration drive, which began with a goal of registering or updating 2,000 students by the governmental deadline of Oct. 8, registered a total of 2,303 students by completion, or about 15 percent of Western’s student population.

“I am so proud of our staff and volunteers for all their hard work,” Stickney said. “When we started planning this last year, we thought our goal was ambitious, but when we started registering people to vote and saw the excitement for the election, it became apparent that we would solidly beat our goal.”

On Sept. 23, the last day of move-in for University Residences, registration efforts brought in more than 720 voter registration cards, a single-day record for the drive. The voter drive’s success comes during a time where student involvement in voting is thought to be on the decline, and the results of the drive were called “impressive” by Secretary of State Sam Reed, Stickney said.

Planning for the registration drive began in February, 2012, among the AS REP Office, The Washington Bus and Western Votes, an all-volunteer run organization on campus. The drive was run by six staff members and 11 volunteers across the participating organizations.

For more information about the drive, or for information regarding voting in the election, contact Patrick Stickney by phone at (360) 650-3736 or by e-mail at asvp.gov@wwu.edu.