Let’s get out the vote!

Hopefully, Student Association Vice President Gregg Bliss won’t be right again.

Bliss assessed last September’s voter turnout in the SA senate election this way: “Even with all the press we received, people still walked past the polls fat, dumb and happy.”

Now, by most collegiate journalistic standards, that’s what you call a good quote. Unfortunately, by every other standard, that’s what you call hitting the nail on the head.

In that election, 751 students voted. I’m no math whiz, but that is about 3 percent of the students at NIU. More people were evacuated during the Grant Towers North fireworks show than participated in the election.

But as everyone knows, there are always two sides to every issue. In that election, there were 33 hopefuls on the ballot for 32 off-campus seats, while 15 hopefuls were on the ballot for 16 on-campus seats.

Before the mass numbers of NIU political enthusiasts run next door to chastise their neighbor for not voting in the senate election and berate him about the importance of voting in the executive election, please read on.

I am actually pretty darn proud to share with you today the extraordinary fact that the number of people who voted in last year’s executive elections more than tripled the number of voters in the senate elections.

Yes, you math whiz you, a whopping 10 percent of NIU voted for their executive board.

Maybe people at NIU didn’t vote because they didn’t feel anyone was qualified for the position, or they forgot their I.D. card or whatever. But seeing most SA members adamantly proclaiming their purpose as being the representation of their “constituents,” delaying action on issues because they want to talk with the people they “represent” and making sure they are doing what the mass number of voters wants them to do is, well, very encouraging. I love the personal attention I, as a voter, am getting.

So, in the spirit of unselfishness, I want to share my student representation with you by requesting, nay, challenging you to vote in the SA elections Wednesday or Thursday. If you do this, the SA can gauge your feelings before they spend your money on your behalf.

No need for thanks; I used to be a Boy Scout, and that’s the kind of stuff we were coerced, uh, I mean, taught to do.

Besides, any group whose membership is composed of either three or 10 people in every 100 is a pretty elite group, and I want you to be a part of it with me. And since there is not only one day for you to vote, but two, well …

Now, in keeping with the recent U.S. presidential election, one might decline to vote because none of the candidates meet one’s specifications. This is not recommended, however, because this is not a Richard Pryor movie and you are not Monte Brewster who can afford to campaign for “none of the above.”

The fact remains that someone is going to get elected to the executive positions, whether or not you vote. Not to vote is not only stupid, but irresponsible. There isn’t one logical reason not to vote, especially considering the SA will allocate about $650,000 of your money before the month is over. That, my hopefully voting friends, is a lot of money.

Even if you are an Einstein majoring in a field the average NIU student cannot pronounce and will make $50,000 fresh out of school, it will take you 13 years to earn the amount of money the SA will allocate on your behalf. In this light, I really think it would do you, and me, a world of good to vote.

As for who your election choice should be, that’s up to you. People say that I can’t write, let alone report, so I hate to imagine the furor and upheaval I would cause NIU by suggesting one candidate over another.

So, it would really be a good idea if you voted at least once in the next two days. No reason to be scared of the process, you certainly aren’t the only one doing something so politically radical for the first time.

See you at the polls!