Secretary of State Ralph Mollis hopes URI, RIC and CCRI students are up for a practical lesson in political science during campus voter registration drives later this week.
- URI-Providence on Tuesday, March 29, in the Main Lobby at 80 Washington Street, Providence
- RIC, on Wednesday, March 30, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., in the Student Union, Providence
- CCRI-Newport, on Thurs., March 31, in the Atrium at One John H. Chafee Blvd.
All three drives will run from 10am to 1pm. In order to register to vote, you must be 18 by Election Day 2012, a resident of Rhode Island and a U.S. citizen.
We plan to visit every Rhode Island high school and college leading up to the 2012 elections. The initiative is a partnership with the state Board of Elections.
The college visits are part of our push to get younger voters to the polls next year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 59 percent of eligible 18-to-24-year-olds were registered to vote on Election Day 2008. Just 49 percent actually voted in that election.
I am glad to hear about any voter registration drive and I know URI/RIC/CCRI are very RI biased as far as the student bodies go. But, can we PLEASE discourage students from outside RI with no knowledge of state problems voting locally just because its convenient to register and vote for president?!