This is Skidmore Podcast: Don’t boo. 投票!

On the latest episode of This is Skidmore, Max Fleischman '19, 桃瑞丝 Donelan '19 and 汉娜 Fishman '19 sit down with Robin Adams, director of leadership activites, to discuss their efforts to boost 投票r registration. They cover topics of 投票r suppression, absentee ballots and how they are getting 火博体育学生参与了今年的大选.

记录: 

Robin: 今天和我在一起的是汉娜·菲什曼，麦克斯·弗莱希曼和多丽丝·多诺林. Donolin?

桃乐丝: Donolin.

Robin: Donolin,是的. 这是我今年合作过的三个学生，他们 互相合作在火博体育争取选票. On November 6 这 year, 2018, we have the midterm elections and these are three students who are pretty 热衷于提高大学生的投票人数. 我想要它们 to tell their story and talk about what their passions are and what they've been doing. So, let's start with it.

Robin: Max, I'm going to start with you because you and I have been a lot in touch over the 夏天. Tell me what started this with you?

马克斯: For me it really came 从 just kind of shock and disappointment in turn out numbers for millennials and Gen-Z in the 2016 election and then was like well, I really can't just sit by and let 那 happen again. Actually, the day after the election I had a meeting with my advisor at the time and she kind of went on this whole rant where she was very upset about how no college students were voting and how this was such a low turn out year for college students and how this really needed to change and ever since then I've really been thinking about this and thinking well, what am I 要做的? 上学期我被选为SGA会长，我就想， I have this position, might as well use it to do something good and try to get people more involved in politics.

Robin: 汉娜, you came to this as a sort of, not disaffected, but non-active member of the Skidmore Democrats, right?

汉娜: Well, we did this event last year - we did an event for National 投票r Registration day, in conjunction with the Saratoga county League of Women 投票rs, and Robin and I coordinated with their liaison, Kathy, and we did 那 through 桃瑞丝's club, 连接 with Congress, and the League of Women 投票rs were registering 投票rs while we were doing kind of trivia about voting itself, it was the 100th anniversary of when women got the right to 投票 in New York, so, you know, come and talk to us, tell us where you're registered to 投票, and answer some questions, take a candy bar kind of thing. We had stickers celebrating 投票r registration and it went really well, they registered, I want to say like 50 投票rs. I'm not sure, it was an off year election...

Robin: This was last year?

汉娜: This was last year. 但一切都进行得很顺利，在活动结束后，我们稍微放松了一下 kept in touch with Kathy about doing the event the next year and so there was some 整个夏天都在来回发邮件，但没有真正的计划. Got back to school, and I heard this amazing news 那 SGA was taking this on - this big initiative and 太棒了. 和 I was kind of like oh, well, um, can I play? 我想成为其中一员 这. 和 I kind of weaseled my 道路 in and here I am now. I think this event went amazingly, I wouldn't say like definitely 道路 better than last year, but it was just different and especially the energy about registering to 投票 and voting in this year's 中期选举与2017年的投票大不相同.

Robin: Tell me about 连接 with Congress.

桃乐丝: 所以，我不是政治学专业的，我是社会工作专业的...

Robin: 没关系.

桃乐丝: I was in this Social Work class called Working with Groups, Organizations, and Communities, and you have to do a big project for the class, spend like 40 hours on it in order 为了获得荣誉. So we made a club called 连接 with Congress. 重点是 for it to be a 道路 for people to get in touch with their representative in the House of Representatives. 这是我们最初的目标，也是我们的使命 statement we wanted to up 投票r turn out 在火博体育, and have more students be registered 去投票，对投票有更多的了解，它就这样出现了 mission statement, 那 if people were more informed and involved then they're gonna 想要更多的投票，所以我们开始做选民登记运动.

桃乐丝: Yeah, last year with 汉娜, 那 was kind of the first time I got involved with it because I was like, this seems like a really great 道路 to do something active on campus.

桃乐丝: 还有一点也不一样，那就是很多人都缺席了 will be like, are you registered to 投票? 和 they're like, yeah. 然后说，做吧 you have your absentee? 和 then they're like, oh my god, no 我不. 所以我们一直 mailing people's absentee ballots for them.

汉娜: 那, I think, has been one of my favorite things, especially compared to last year when you get someone and you're like, okay but do you need absentee ballot, and they 转身——他们停下来——他们看了你一眼，他们说，是的，我喜欢.

Robin: ...so it's the same as sharing a meme on Facebook.

马克斯: Yeah,完全. 这是第一步，你还有其他事情要做.

桃乐丝: 人们没有意识到他们需要在每次选举中都有缺席者. 那 在你第一次做了之后，它不会一直来.

汉娜:和 it's been great because then they usually want to talk about it and learn about absentee, and we've also, I think, in the past, the drives have focused just on registering people here in 萨拉托加温泉市, but I think we've been doing a good job of making sure, oh, you know, here are the pros and cons of registering here versus where you're 从. 如果你想在家里注册，你可以这样做，而不仅仅是 limiting people to registering here.

马克斯: 我认为登记缺席选票已经成为热门的新事物. 这很好 你看，这就像人们关心他们的家，想要参与进来 with their own local politics.

桃乐丝:If you make it easy for people, they're very into it.

马克斯:Yeah, a lot of hesitation and lack in interest in voting, not even lack of interest, the supposed lack of interest, comes 从 more ignorance and anxiety about voting because people don't understand the basics of it. Actually, one girl directly asked me, so like with the midterms, am I just voting for like Democrats, basically she thought it was like a primary situation. 和 I was like no, it's just like the presidential election except there's no president running. It's just a general election. 和她 was like, oh, then she understood 那, and she was a lot better and she felt so much more prepared and then she was asking more about like, okay, so what's going on with my home state, who's running - blah, blah, blah - how do I get an absentee ballot, and then she was able to get all 那 information and be prepared for election day.

汉娜:有几个人经过我身边说这是为SGA准备的? 不，我不在乎， 我不投票. 他们说，不，不，不，这是给真正的政府的. No 讨厌SGA，但这是一次非常重要的选举.

马克斯:这可能比我在SGA做的事对你的影响更大.

Robin: You're very good at e-mails, usually...

马克斯: 谢谢你！. 有时. 

汉娜:这是主题线，你让人们，与...

马克斯:Yeah, with the flirty subject lines.

Robin:One of the things I was struck by is the presence, the consistent, consistent, consistent, 在场，与有疑问的人交谈是很重要的. 正如我所做的 为一群学生举办了一场火博体育投票重要性的大型研讨会， and fielding individual questions in a large room is colossally 困难, and I knew 这一切，直到那一刻才真正被揭露.

Robin:How, I believe, bonkers the national, the voting laws are in our country, and 那 they vary 从 state to state, often times county to county, and it's incredibly 困难. So to work with one student on what it means in Cuayahoga county while there is a slew of other people 从 a different county or a different state makes it really 困难. 所以，走出去和人们交谈是非常重要的. 和 you guys were all able to do this, in an incredibly and purposefully non-partisan 道路. 和火博体育的共和党人合作，他们正在帮你登记 people to 投票, and I think 那's something 那 we have to do as an institution, right?

Robin:这可能不是吸引人们参与一项事业的最好方法，对吧? 但是，在这里， the cause is voting.

桃乐丝:People also think 那 voting won't have a direct impact on their lives, but it actually does in a lot of 道路s. Policy effects everyone. So, if you can bring something up, 你会说，你知道这是因为最近发生的一件事. 他们 like, oh my god, wow, 那's crazy.

Robin:和 you've entered into a policy writing competition?

桃乐丝:不，我可能会. 我现在正在上一门叫做社会政策和社会正义的课， which is a 300 level senior social work class, and what you do for 那 class is write a policy statement. 所以，他说如果我们愿意，我们可以参加比赛. 和 I'm actually doing mine on a voting policy.

Robin:非常有趣的. What's sort of voting policy?

桃乐丝:The governor of New Hampshire recently passed this law 那 means in order to 投票 in New Hampshire you need to declare a legal residency, and 那 come in to effect 2019年7月. 所以，就像这里，如果你在火博体育学习，你可以注册 to 投票 in New York and then you can go to the ICC and just 投票, but it's gonna be next year in New Hampshire, you'll need either a car registered in New Hampshire, 这可能会花费数百美元，或者你需要获得一个新的许可证. 差不多 just tantamount to a poll tax. 这是一种公然的压制措施 the student 投票, in my opinion, because a lot of students aren't New Hampshire residents who study in New Hampshire.

汉娜:我认为学生在校园投票的能力是非常重要的. 我不 我认为这一直是一件事，我不知道它的历史，但是当人们 finally realize, well these students live in this area, on this campus, so yeah, they should be able to be registered to 投票 here. They could be here for four years, maybe more with graduate school.

汉娜:Students here are like, oh 我不 know anything about Saratoga politics, but okay, you don't need to know every detail, but the policy 那's put into action effects you and also future Skidmore students to come. It sets the ground for what you can do in the area and Skidmore has to abide by New York state and 萨拉托加温泉市 law. 如果那条法律不好——裁定是非法的——那就会影响到你.

Robin:It is New York state law th在火博体育 students, college students, can 投票 in the town 那 you are living. You are residents of 这个小镇. Therefore, you represent 这个小镇. 我相信纽约州最高法院曾一度对这一规定提出质疑 court, where it was struck down.

汉娜: Yeah, Skidmore's its own district within 萨拉托加温泉市, which is really important. 我们在萨拉托加斯普林斯民主党委员会有两个席位. 我本来是 going to be one of those seats, but I'm actually registered in Maryland and they said, you need to re-register, and I was like no. I want to 投票 in Maryland elections, so now they have some other students who are going to fill the positions, but they 在一个大多是老年人的委员会中参与政策讨论 people 从 萨拉托加温泉市.

桃乐丝:最近，我和我的教授聊天，他说——你们在读书吗 火博体育在乔治亚州发生的事情，他们试图close所有的 these polling stations? 所以基本上是一样的，郡政府试图 do with voting 在火博体育, where a couple years ago they tried to shut down voting 在火博体育 on account of it not being accessible and to move it to a town building, or even to the gym, 那 was an idea, which I think people would 投票 less if it was 在健身房. 这真是太疯狂了，到处都有人在尝试 to shut down polling locations. I just thought was interesting 那 那 happened 在火博体育.

马克斯:It's almost like voting is made so complicated to lower the 投票 or something like 那. 就好像我们有一段剥夺人们权利的历史 to voting, and 那 just sort of continues even though it gets better, it's maybe not necessarily done. There's al道路s room to improve.

Robin:容易,马克斯. You've registered people to 投票. 我们还有...

汉娜:大约一周.

Robin:离选举还有一个月的时间，那么截止日期之后，下一步是什么呢?

马克斯:Well reminding people to 投票, 那's the basic thing. It's just being like, hey, be aware of the issues, know when election day is, know when you have to get your absentee ballot in, really, getting registered, getting your absentee ballot, signed up for it, is great, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't actually show up and 投票. It's the equivalent of liking something on Facebook. It doesn't really do anything it just shows, oh I'm kind of interested, but if you don't show up then it means absolutely nothing, it means diddly squat.

Robin:So will you be out there with your laptops on 投票.org, showing people?

汉娜:I think it's getting people's phone numbers or e-mails for election day reminder sign ups and people have been actually much more willing to give those because we're not 我会用任何东西轰炸你，除了，嘿，今天是11月6日，给我滚开 去投票.

马克斯:我要写封有趣的邮件，发出去，提醒大家去投票.

Robin:Guy's, thank you for doing this.

Robin:We've been ending these podcasts with a question, and I think it's kind of cute so, I'm gonna keep doing it. 汉娜...

汉娜:Oh, I was gonna say don't start with me.

Robin:桃瑞丝?

桃乐丝:You can start with me.

Robin:桃瑞丝, what's your creative thought?

桃乐丝:My creative thought would be, 我不 know if this is a creative thought, but basically to be creative with what you do with your time in college because I feel like it's easy to just get into this rhythm of you wake up, you go to class, 我不 know, and a lot of people do extra curriculars, but I feel like colleges are a really great place with lots of resources for being active and for working towards things 那 are important to you and, you know when you go home for Thanksgiving and your relatives are like, you young people are ruined, you never do anything, no like, actually, I help registered over 100 people, so, 我不 know, I just think to really pay attention to the resources around you.

马克斯:是的，我要重申注意你周围的所有资源. 有这么 much stuff here 那 you can take advantage of and 那 people just don't realize. Also, pay attention to the news and think of the national as local because every national issue starts with a small town local issue, take like the heroin or opioid epidemic going on in the country right now. I think in upstate New York, 52% of New Yorkers will admit to knowing someone who's been affected by 那, like 那's a local issue.

马克斯:那's something 那's affecting us locally, I think, 从 my experience in my high school, my peers who I know who have passed a道路, have passed a道路 because of issues 阿片类药物或海洛因，所以这是一个全国性的问题，哦，这个 我能做些什么来帮助解决这个问题呢? 和 one of the things you can do is pay attention to politics and who you're putting in 办公室，他们的钱从哪里来，如果他们的钱是从哪里来的 big pharma or if they're getting money 从 more just local people in the area and it's very important to be aware of 那 stuff. 那's my creative thought.

汉娜:My creative thought is, this is weird, but be actually creative in the 道路 那 you engage students and 投票rs in talking about voting and registering to 投票, I think, because I've found 那 the normal, just like - hey, register to 投票, voting is good - doesn't work at high rates and really connecting to the student on a level 那 they can relate to is really important and local issues related to them 从 their 无论是在家乡还是在火博体育，我认为这是接触人们的方式.

汉娜:和 finding aspects of their lives 那 are touched by policies is really useful in making sure 那 people turn out to 投票, people show up and 那's my creative thought.

Robin:谢谢大家. It's been a pleasure. 桃瑞丝, say goodbye to the people.

桃乐丝: 再见每一个人.

Robin:再见了.

汉娜:再见. 回头见.