Voter Registration as a requirement
 

Does your organization require that members be registered voters?

If not, do you think they should? If no, why?

No, and we shouldn't. As a poli sci major, i fully believe in voting (unless you live in florida who can't seem to figure out how to run an election) but i also believe that it is a right to choose to vote. i wonder why people will complain, but won't spend 20min in Nov/spring to cast a ballot. It would be unfair, and also, it would make it ackward for non-citizens who are members. I feel like my sorority experience was special partly because it wasn't political. I went to a politically active school and i just don't think that everyone can handle intense interpersonal relationships with politics being mandated.

No, AOII does not require members to be registered voters...like Little E said, "I feel like my sorority experience was special partly because it wasn't political." I totally agree...

APhiA requires proof of voter registration for all applicants.

No, I don't believe that it should be a requirement.
I agree with Little E. While I believe everyone should vote and I also feel that those who don't vote shouldn't bitch about politics. I also believe that it is their right to choose to vote and if you don't want to either because you're too lazy or you're "trying to make a statement", then it's your right and should be a requirement of membership, especially into a social GLO.

No, we do not require members to be registered voters.

I don't think it should be required, but those who don't register are missing out on a large part of our democracy. Voting is a privilege!

Great idea but no.

-Rudey

Re: Voter Registration as a requirement
 

Nope, but that's a great idea that I'll pass along to my active chapter.

How is being registered to vote party related??

Don't our organizations host voter registration drives??

Not required for us either.

But watching the DNC has made me think what a great thing it would be to at least offer it to our chapters. I think often people don't register to vote because they don't know how, or they think it will take a long time, it's not convenient, they forget to, etc etc. I think it would be cool to have someone in charge of it in the chapter. They always have the forms and the info on where to send it. And we wouldn't force it on anyone, but if they wanted it we cold help them out. I don't see anything political about that. You aren't forcing them to register to a particular party.

I don't think there's anything wrong with orgs encouraging their members to register to vote or to host voter registration drives.

I don't think it should be a requirement of membership.

I don't know if her organization hosts voter registration drives.

But her organization does say:

Now certainly the key word is "encouraging" (not requiring) but even if SK "required" voter registration, it clearly wouldn't be against its stated purpose.

:)

Mad you went to the website, ROFLOL.

Registering to vote or encouraging someone to do so is not "political." If you made them register with a certain party, or followed them on election day to make sure they voted, that would be another story.

I wish NPC/NIC/NPHC would get together for a joint registration drive. I agree that it shouldn't be a requirement, since not everyone in our orgs is a US citizen.

On an international level, NPHC is working with Unity '04 Voter Empowerment Campaign. http://www.unity04.net

In principle, encouraging voter registration and voting in elections (for US citizens) is a great idea. However, IMHO, it would only work if a stipulation were on the books that partisanship on any level were prohibited.

Given how strident peoples' feelings are on any political topic (take a look at GC threads from the past month) this idea could blow up if boundaries aren't set. You never know when someone of any political bent would get a wild hair and start over-promoting an agenda that could potentially split a chapter, or even an organization.

This is quite close to the discussions posted earlier about religious activities in an org. Someone once innocently posted that people in their chapter of like mind would have a Bible study. Then someone else from a different chapter (or even from a different org!) got offended even at the *concept* of people of faith expressing it publicly, merely because they disagreed with it. That's the sign of a major powderkeg.

Political feelings run just as high. As soon as someone expresses the political ideas and try to live by them in public, someone else will be o-ffen-ded and call for their censorship. Not a good way to build brotherhood or sisterhood.

All good innovations about personal ideals stay good when there are boundaries to them.

--add

One problem that I can see with this is how to handle international students in a collegiate chapter, or someone who is working on obtaining citizenship in an alumni chapter. Several of my sorority sisters and my boyfriends fraternity brothers are not U.S. citizens. Since the citizenship process takes so long, I don't see how you could mandate that while still allowing international members, unless they were required to register in their own country.

We're talking about sitting at a table in a prominent location, asking people if they're registered and then if they're not, asking them if they'd like to be and helping them (if they need help) while they fill out an application. The words Republican or Democrat shouldn't even come out of the table-sitters' mouths.

I think a lot of people are misinterpreting what a "voter registration drive" actually is. If you have a bake sale, you don't ask everyone who bakes a pie how they feel about Greek life, would they like to be Greek, if not why not, yadda yadda yadda.

Good point. *puts on thinking cap*

Oh, I understand that point completely.

I'm thinking in terms of setting policy. It's always smart to "state the obvious" so that there is no misunderstanding by future members about which words not to use. (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Independent, Socialist, Communist, etc etc etc) If you don't state the obvious about what is or is not appropriate, you **will** have people eventually trying to push an agenda. That's where the good idea takes a trip to hell in a handbasket. I'm real big on preventing that kind of thing. :D

--add

i like the idea of voter registration drives, but how do you do it on a college campus where there are students from just about every state?

as far as it being a requirement, i don't think that it would be possible. in the npc (at least), the majority of members are collegiates. there are some campus that hold recruitment before school starts or in the fall semester. i am willing to bet that there are plenty of new members who aren't even 18 yet.

the next hurddle i see is that if only one npc group or just a few made this a requirement, then they would be putting themselves at risk for reducing their membership numbers.

Senusret I
question: do members need to prove that they voted in elections throughout their membership or is this just something they need to show upon applying for membership?

I wish NPC/NIC/NPHC would get together for a joint registration drive. I agree that it shouldn't be a requirement, since not everyone in our orgs is a US citizen.

YOu'll get your wish, 33girl. NPC is organizing an initiative this fall called GO VOTE 04. This is a non-partisan program that encourages voter registrations drives on campus and explains ways that individual members can be involved in the election process. Those with conventions this summer may have heard about it already otherwise you'll get information from your HQ this fall.

We do not require proof that you voted, we require proof that you are registered to vote at time of application.

I was reading the Alabama student newspaper and I saw that the Sigma Chi chapter there hosted a Republican fundraiser called "Bushapalooza." Obviously that's a lot more touchy than asking everyone to register to vote their own conscience! I wonder if any of you saw chapters aligning themselves with parties at your home campuses?

<minor hijak>
THIS is what I was thinking of when I posted my 2 above replies.
</minor hijak>

In answer to the question, no, not even in Boston where partisan politics is a common hobby, have I seen Greek chapters doing this.

--add

thanks! i was just imagining the nightmare trying to ensure that everyone voted! :)

Requiring that one is registered to vote is not the same thing as requiring them to vote.

ETA: That was for Kate. :)

I like the idea of voter registration drives, but politics in sororities can get ugly really quickly. During the 2000 election, there were several of us who were really politically active and pretty much the entire chapter were Democrats. There were two Republicans in the whole chapter who were actually made to feel rather uncomfortable (mostly unintentional), particularly during the whole Florida recount mess.

I can imagine that any Democrats in that Alabama chapter probably were not happy that they were having a Bush fundraiser.

A situation happened last year in Arkansas where a county judge ordered that all college students in that county that registered with a University address/PO Box were ineligible to vote in that county and had their names struck from the registered voter list. This was for a state election (not national). His argument was that these students aren't permanent residents of that county and therefore are ineligible to vote in that county.

That decision got overturned rather quickly.....his county has 2 colleges in it. One of them is a large Baptist University.....where the current Governor's (who was up for reelection) daughter attended school....and the Governor himself is a Baptist Minister. So.....that little decision didn't last long.

But it does bring up the point that some towns/counties may have guidelines on how the students are registered to vote, etc. That would be worth checking into.

PsychTau

This is the difficulty with requiring voter registration. Federalism gives the running of the elections to each individual state. The national government has very little, if any, control over state elections, they put forth standards, which are vague at best. To require voter registration would be difficult because everything varries.

Example: Wisconsin has same-day registration with an open-primary system, by that I mean you can show up at the poll, with a bill or proof of residency and an ID. (Though in Beloit, they accept a college ID as residency even if your driver's is out of state). You can vote on any, and all i believe, tickets in a primary. For example i could have choosen, in 2000, McCain and Gore or whomever. You do not actually declare your party.

Now in PA you have to register 1 month in advance in order to be eligible to vote. Then you need to have a voter registration card, which they send you by mail in order to cast your ballot. Additionally, correct me if I'm wrong, but you need to delcare your party affiliation to vote in the primary. If you declare Independent, you do not get to vote in the primary, only registered party affiliates can.

It is too complicated to REQUIRE voter registration for membership. I agree with encouraging chapters to participate in voter turnout, but I also think that chapters shouldn't be forced. There are some chapters who can just not handle to add the political into the sorority, no matter how non-partisan it is ment. Anyone who has been in a sorority chapter meeting can atest, I'm assuming, to how hot topics can get, I think that sisterhood should come before politics, always.

Alpha Phi Alpha requires it. Doesn't seem like they are having issues with their membership...

So basically, your GLO has two requirements: You have to be male AND a citizen.

My GLO has more than two requirements.

Individuals who are not citizens would have to inquire with the appropriate fraternity officials. Seeing as how we have international chapters, CLEARLY there are exceptions.

BUt is that really fair? I mean, people should be encouraged to vote, but to require them to be registered just doesn't make sense to me. It just makes it harder for non-citiztens (and under 18s) to join, since many may not want to go through with the paper work. Personally, I find it a turn-off.

You really should visit www.alphaphialpha.net.

Beyond that, yes, it is fair. If you really want to join, you will do what it takes. If you need to contact a District Director because you are a non-citizen and want to be exempt from that requirement, then yes, that's fair. It might be MORE WORK for that applicant, but so what?

Again, if you read our website, you will see why this is important to us.

I'm not knocking this (although I would not want it for Pi Phi)

But even if members were required to provide proof of registration as a voter, this could provide difficulties for international chapters.

Here in Canada, when it's time to vote a registration card is mailed to you. If you don't recieve a card and you are eligible to vote (and you want to vote) you have 2 options. 1) call your returning officer and them place your name on the voters list 2) you can go to your polling station on the day of an election and register there. All subsequent elections will have your name on the list and you will be sent a voters card in the mail.

Also, when you go an vote, they take your card to show that you have voted.

I don't know how I would prove to them I was a registered voter.

How do you do it?