NIU students have the power to affect the outcome of city, county and state races in DeKalb if they register to vote and cast their ballots in DeKalb on election day, Tuesday Nov. 6.

Kagan said the student vote will make a difference in next year’s city elections. He said city politics is so divided now that enough student involvement could change the makeup of the council.

NIU Young Democrats Chairman Brad Strauss, last year’s campus voter registrar, said there never is enough money in the state budget for higher education because students don’t vote.

As an organized block, students can make their voices heard in Springfield where the budget is decided every year, he said.

“I just think it is so important to vote. This is the only thing the College Republicans and the Young Democrats agree on,” Strauss said.

Kagan said students must relinquish their voting rights at their permanent residence to vote in DeKalb.

He said student voter registrars will be going to buildings throughout campus such as the library, Pow-Wow Lounge and residence halls to register a wide variety of people.

“We will be hitting the campus hard over the next six weeks,” Kagan said.

Kagan also said there is an off-campus voter registrar for students living in the city.

Kagan said the voter registration drive will end, by law, Oct. 6.

Registering to vote is a very short process. After showing two forms of identification, one of which includes a current address, students need only to fill out a form and expect to receive their voter registration card soon.

Kagan also said only a duly authorized voter registrar can register a voter. Students interested in becoming voter registrars need to be registered to vote and go through a brief training process.

Sharon Holmes, DeKalb County chief deputy clerk, who oversees the election process in DeKalb, said students vote in the presidential elections but not in most other elections.

Holmes said voter turnout at the residence halls is usually near 60 percent and sometimes more than 70 percent.

“At this point there have not been a lot of student registrations coming in,”she said.

Information on student impact in county elections is not readily available, but anyone is welcome to come in to the clerk’s office and read the past election results to observe how students have affected past elections, Holmes said.

“I’d like to do over 1000 students, but I think it is a real tough go,” Kagan said.

Anyone wishing to register to vote can call the SA weekdays utill 4:30 p.m. for more information, Kagan said.