Radford University students gathered to watch the election results roll in on the big screen in The Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center and to hear the latest results for the next president and vice president of the United State of America.
The fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha and its sister sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, hosted the election results party, which consisted of McCain, Obama, and undecided students.

“I think it’s really important for everyone to still come together and watch and see what happens, no matter who you’re voting for,” said RU student Bryant Burnheimer, who never chose a favorite candidate.

“With it being Election Day and me being one of the individuals who are still undecided, it’s kind of ironic that I didn’t even get the chance to vote because Radford University’s Student Government Association messed up my registration paperwork,” Burnheimer said.

Some Radford University students made it their priority to vote in this historical election.

Former president of Radford’s SGA said that he complained last time the elections were held because his candidate didn’t win, but then he realized that he had no right to complain because he didn’t vote. “So this time, I made sure that I voted for Obama to be president, so if he doesn’t win, I’ll have every right to complain,” Regis McKoy said.

With the election results being just hours away from being announced, RU students tried to figure out how to handle their anxiety.

“I am very hopeful that Obama will win, but I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, because I don’t want to be very disappointed in the case that he doesn’t,” said RU senior Jamie Thompson.

The task of getting the younger population to participate in voting has always been a challenge in the United States. Despite several efforts such as the “Rock the Vote” campaign and college campus efforts, several students at RU are unregistered or did not participate in the election.

Junior Lacey Credle is one of those students who has not registered to vote. The election day snuck up on Credle and by the time she realized she needed to not only register, but file for an absentee ballot, it was too late.

“The whole process was just something that I didn’t want to have to do,” Credle said. “I am going to register and participate next election but I just procrastinated too much this time.”

Although Credle did not vote she does hold a political views.

“I’m too poor to be a Republican,” she said. “Me and my roommate joke about that all the time. When you’re rich and you have money, you want to tax the middle-class people more. In general I support Obama.”

Other RU students also took the same course of action by not participating in the election. Junior John Safi did not even know that election day was today until he started hearing that people had gone to vote.

“I am an independent and I didn’t like either of the two candidates,” Safi said. “I don’t like to get into politics that much because most what they say they don’t even do once they are elected. If I had to pick someone it would be Obama because I’m all for peace and McCain is for the war.”

Many agree that the younger population may be so distant and hesitant to get involved with politics because they have not had real-life experiences that are directly affected by the government such as paying taxes or raising a family.

Sophomore Rae Gilbert was one of those students who did participate in the election. Gilbert was so passionate about voting that she drove two hours to her home in Danville to vote in her local precinct.

“The process was actually really easy,” Gilbert said. “I walked into the gym of a local elementary school where I had to present my voter registration card. They gave me a voter number for my precinct and I was then assigned a computer where I used a touch screen to select who I wanted to vote for.”

Gilbert ended up voting for McCain. Normally a moderate when it comes to political views, Gilbert said that she holds a lot of respect for McCain due to his experience in politics and the fact that he was a prisoner of war.

Many students do not participate for various reasons but one of the most popular at RU seems to be the process of registering and voting absentee. This involves filling out brief forms and mailing their information to the board of elections of their home address.

“Students already feel like their vote doesn’t matter and those that actually take the time to fill out the forms are slapped in the face when they are told they can‘t register,” Gilbert said.
Sophomore Victoria Triana was one student who successfully voted absentee. She filed for an absentee ballot where she is from in Fredericksburg, Va.

“I think that registering was a lot more of a pain than action filing for and filling out the absentee ballot,” Triana said. “Students should know that it really isn’t that hard of a process; it just takes 10 minutes out of your day to fill out the form and drop it in the mail box.”

Triana was very passionate about this election because not only is it a historic election, but it was Triana’s first general election that she could vote in.

“I’m a Republican but I don’t support Palin so I chose the lesser of the two evils,” Triana said. “I wanted to participate even though I was torn between the candidates.”

Sophomore Ashley Nasca was another student who did not vote who elaborates on why several students decide not to participate.

“It seemed like a really long process,” Nasca said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to register, and I just haven’t. It seemed like a lot and I’m really not interested in politics to begin with.”

Gilbert further explained the reluctance of young people to participate in the democratic process. “There needs to be proof and an easier way to register and vote absentee,” she said. “The day that it all becomes electronic and can be done on line is the day that the younger participation will increase. There has to be a change if we want the younger population to get involved.”

Meghan Higgins and Danyelle Hudson are media studies students at Radford University.