Vote Oswego began this semester as a non-partisan campaign organized to register as many Oswego State students to vote as possible.

In the first week of classes the campaign collected and submitted 228 voter registration forms and 382 absentee ballots. By Sept. 12, numbers jumped to 341 voter registrations and 569 absentee ballots.

Associate professor Allison Rank created the campaign as a topics course for students interested in practical politics. Rank said she is passionate about working to register college students to vote.

“Politicians will only pay attention to your demographic if you’re turning out to the polls,” Rank said. “If politicians can fully write off a demographic, they don’t have to pay attention to the concerns specific to that demographic.”

The topics course is designed for students to learn how to create campaigns from inception to conclusion, while reminding students that their vote counts in every type of election.

Students in the course are considered campaign staff with complete ownership over the campaign itself. Campus organization, social media specialists and video production are all departments within the organization and run by the staff members.

To help with campaign material, the design club will create pins, logos and fliers to be handed out at upcoming events. Rebecca Mushtare, associate professor of graphic design, has her advanced web design students creating a Vote Oswego website.

“In design there is a big movement to design for social change, design for democracy, design for good, and it’s really about how design can improve our world and communities,” Mushtare said. “Vote Oswego has a goal to get people to vote and we’re hoping that the work that the designers do help to augment that.”

Vote Oswego databasing intern Angela Tylock expressed her enthusiasm for being a staff member on a “home grown” campaign. 

“We have had everything made by students or faculty on campus,” Tylock said. “I think it helps to show whether or not you’re in the class, and whether or not you’re working directly in the campaign, you can still be apart of what we’re doing.”

Volunteers have said it is troublesome to hear from students not exercising their right to vote because they are opposed to the presidential candidates running.

“There is more than one election going on, by visiting vote411.org anyone can get information about elections happening around their area,” Mushtare said.

Volunteer Andrew Pugliese said the Vote Oswego campaign can get students set up for the rest of their lives.

“This is the only presidential election that these students will have a chance to vote on while in college, but it’s also important to remember we are not only registering them for this election, we are registering for the elections to come,” Pugliese said.

The Vote Oswego campaign is open to all students who want to get involved and gain basic political knowledge. Volunteers from the campaign have been to 32 classes across campus handing out voting pledges and registration forms and recruiting members from the student body to join the voting movement.

Anyone can get involved by showing up between 6 and 6:55 p.m. on Wednesdays in Mahar 314.