Tuesday was the final day for Oregon residents to register to vote for Jan. 26th's special election.
And the campaign at Oregon State University to get students registered received a late boost from Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown.
She was on campus Tuesday afternoon to speak to classes about the importance of registering to vote and also appeared at a booth, set up by the Associated Students of Oregon State University Government Affairs Task Force, where students could register.
Earlier in the day, Brown made stops at Lane Community College and University of Oregon to participate in similar activities. During a speech to a group of OSU students in Milam Auditorium, Brown recalled winning her first election by seven votes despite being outspent nearly 2 to 1. She used that race to illustrate the fact every vote counts.
"I think it's really important for college students to be involved in the political process," said Brown, a Democrat elected to her office in 2008. "It's also important for them to see their elected officials and know that they can make a difference."
On the ballot for the Jan. 26 election are two tax measures, 66 and 67. If they fail, the state could lose up $733 million in revenue, which would drastically impact higher education and other state services.
Jill Van Buren, supervisor of the Benton County Elections Office, said she expects a good voter turnout for the election.
"It all depends if it's about money," Van Buren said. "This one is so I'd expect it to be higher than 50 percent, and also because it's a statewide election."
Van Buren said her office received more than 600 voter registration cards by the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, there were 49,320 registered voters in Benton County.
Tyler Hogan, assistant director of government relations for ASOSU, said more than 400 students registered since Monday, exceeding the association's goal for the campaign.
"We're finding that it's about 50/50 when it comes to people understanding the measures," Hogan said. "It's difficult to understand. And some people just don't care, which is frustrating."
About half the students who registered to vote Monday and Tuesday at OSU were doing so because they changed addresses. Daniel Fridley, an intern with with the ASOSU Government Affairs Task Force, said the majority of the other students were freshmen who hadn't registered before or students from out of state.
Andrea Bouma, a graduate student in food sciences and technology, was one student who re-registered due to changing addresses. She called herself an "as last-minute voter as you can get."
"I actually don't know anything about the measures," Bouma said. "So I plan to read through the voters pamphlet before I turn my ballot in. I love that students have a voice in this."
