Students of the University of New Hampshire have the ability to change the outcome of the next presidential election.
"High turnouts in places like Durham, Keene and Manchester could make a difference on the margins of a close election" said Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science. In a close election the student vote could have an impact. In the 2000 presidential election Al Gore lost New Hampshire to George W. Bush by a little over 7,000 votes. The number of students is approximately 12,000.
If Al Gore had won New Hampshire in 2000, it would have put him over the edge in electoral votes securing his victory. This victory would have made the contested votes of Florida a non-issue, according to Scala.
"This campus has so much power," said Morgan O'Neill, a member of UNH Votes and an avid Obama supporter. She said knowledge of the students' power keeps her up at night. She thinks the election really could come down to New Hampshire, and students don't understand how significant their impact is.
Larkin Barker, a member of the Obama campaign, said the importance of the youth vote can't be overstated. Barker pointed out Obama's campaign has allocated a significant portion of time and resources to reach out to youth voters, appointing a youth vote director and utilizing mediums more accessible to the younger vote such as Myspace, Facebook and even creating a site called MyBarackObama.com.
Although only four electoral votes are available in New Hampshire, it remains a heavily contested battleground state. New Hampshire is one of only 15 states up for grabs in this year's election, according to Scala.
Knowing this and the significance role UNH plays in elections, both campaigns have spent a significant amount of time and effort in our area. The candidates have even enlisted celebrity power, like actor Kal Penn, to encourage students to vote. Kal Penn is known for playing Dr. Kutner on House M.D. as well as his role as Kumar in the Harold & Kumar movies.
"You can single-handedly sway this election and I don't mean that lightly at all," said Penn.
Penn cites the sheer amount of money our generation has created for companies like MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. "Now that's wealth that our generation has created seriously just sitting in front of our computers," he said. "Now think of the power we have to change the face of the presidency."
Penn stresses it's important for voters 18 to 30 vote because the older generation tends to think we're lazy and we won't pull through. He encourages the youth to vote to prove the cynics wrong.
The university will be hosting a series of voter registration days to encourage its students to go out and vote. The next two coming up will be Oct. 15 in MUB 203 and Oct. 22 at Holloway Commons.
"It needs to be stressed how easy this is to do," said Morgan O'Neill, a member of UNH Votes, about registering to vote on campus.
Out-of-state students and those already registered to vote in another state, can register to vote in Durham by filling out the paperwork to change; your principle home for legal purposes. A change in domicile is not a change in residency. It just says that you spend a majority of your time in one place as opposed to another.
It appears many students are hesitant about changing their domicile because of the possible implications such as changes in tuition or complications with loans.
Only in a small number of cases of changing domiciles has conflicted with local town scholarships, according to O'Neill. She explained a majority of the issues with changing domicile are exaggerated by the political right.
"It's as simple as young voters tend to be more liberal," O'Neill said.
"Please don't let any one tell you that you don't have the right to vote at your school," said Kal Penn, "the ball is in your court right now
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