The candidates for D.C. mayor are shaking hands and kissing babies across the city in anticipation of the April primary. Even though most students live in the District, most are ignoring not only the campaign stump speeches, but the important policy decisions that hang in the balance during this local election.
Getting students to register to vote in D.C. has always been an uphill battle, and it’s unfortunate that our supposedly “most politically active” student body doesn’t seem to care.
Students here don’t just attend GW for a few years and then move away. There’s no need to cling to your swing state voter status because more than 84,000 alumni make the District their home for years after they graduate, five times more often than the next most popular city. We have a real stake in the game, and we’re wasting an opportunity to make our voices heard now.
Voters will decide in April whether to nominate incumbent Mayor Vincent Gray – a 1964 alumnus – for reelection. The other front runners include: Jack Evans, a veteran Foggy Bottom Council member; Tommy Wells, arguably the most progressive candidate; and Muriel Bowser, the top female frontrunner.
We should be enthusiastic, not reluctant, to jump into the debate – especially because the mayor’s office and D.C. Council are already tackling big issues relevant to students.
In recent months, the city government has debated strengthening sexual violence laws, decriminalizing recreational marijuana and raising the minimum wage to the highest in the nation – all issues that have already been the subjects of campus advocacy work.
In a city that has always leaned left, real change is being enacted on these issues. That should excite liberal students and encourage them to participate in this increasingly progressive record.
But conservative students should use the upcoming election cycle as a chance to balance out the conversation. David Catania, a right-leaning independent D.C. Council member, said he would throw his hat in the ring if Gray wins the primary. A potential Catania candidacy is just what the College Republicans – and College Democrats – need to rally the troops on a largely liberal campus.
Students shouldn’t fear any complex bureaucracy to gain voter eligibility. In fact, registering to vote “could not be easier,” Patrick Kennedy, a registered D.C. voter recently elected chair of Foggy Bottom’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission, told The Hatchet.
Students attending D.C. colleges are already counted in the census report as residents. To vote, all we have to do is prove our address the first time we cast a ballot – a task Kennedy said GW Housing can assist with.
Besides, getting involved in city life outside of Foggy Bottom isn’t something GW students should have to be prodded to do. In fact, soaking up all the District has to offer is a crucial part of most students’ lives already.
About 90 percent of students enjoy internships anywhere from the Smithsonian Institutes to the State Department – not to mention the student body’s commitment to community service at public schools, homeless shelters and food pantries in poorer parts of the city.
Older residents of Foggy Bottom have historically criticized GW students for being immature and uninformed. The tension came to a head last year when administrators decided to require more students to live on campus, partly in an effort to assuage neighbors. But neglecting to vote fuels the fire of angry residents who say that student needs shouldn’t be taken seriously.
We should make sure we actually have a say in how laws that affect us are written.
This post was updated Feb. 3, 2014 at 9:45 a.m. to reflect the following:
Corrections appended
The Hatchet incorrectly reported that Muriel Bowser would be the District’s first female mayor. In fact, she would be the second: Sharon Pratt Kelly held office for a single term from 1991 to 1995.
The Hatchet also incorrectly reported, drawing from past Hatchet stories, that only 13 people aged 18 22 cast a ballot in city elections in 2008 and 2010. We regret these errors.
