by Abigail Buttacavoli, WTOP10-TV

Election day has finally come and this fall 2016 semester has been very unique here at SUNY Oswego.

A new campaign called Vote oswego was initiated to encourage students to register to vote or apply for an absentee ballot for this years pivotal election.

A semester long upper division class of about 20 students and 5 interns organized the campaign.

According to website and the Pew Research Center, Youth voters, age 18 to 35, are now one of the largest voting groups, making up nearly 30% of the voting population.

During the week of September 26th through the 30th the campaign coordinators held an event called “Blitz week” where members of vote oswego set up tents and played loud music to catch the eyes of possible voters. 

Oswego county Legislature Tom Drumm of District 16 Commented on the success of the campaign.

“I know you guys have a really good Vote Oswego Program that’s started up here, and I’ve looked at the number of people who have gotten registered through that program. I actually had those lists sent to me the other day, and it’s impressive,” said Tom Drumm, Oswego county Legislator of District 16.

Historically less half of eligible young voters submit a ballot. That means half of the voices of our generation go unheard.

Political science Professor, Dr. Allison Rank led her vote oswego class along with 32 student organizations and volunteers to help hundreds of students register.       

“The idea behind vote oswego is to have a home grown voter registration and get out the vote drive. All non partisan, all student driven to the extent that its possible. Something like Vote Oswego shows that these are opportunities for students to learn how to be organizers,” said Dr. Rank.

The efforts to register students in 2012 produced 1200 total forms that election year. Professor Rank says that their original goal was to have 1200 completed forms, but the team exceeded that total and reached a total of 2600 forms combined.