Voter Registration as a requirement

[Tom Earp]

Well, excuse me for my placing a post!

Can you for one say that what you posted is a fact? Do You Know that All Members of GC are Voters?

If, You Will Look at most Voting % there is a heck of a lot less Voters who are registered who actually vote.

I Really did not realize, that this had to do with just G C Voters

Just stating The Facts Mame.

Snap Your Snap Judgement, Checkmate!

Oh Boy are We having fun now?????

"Good Night Gracie, Where ever you are!"

[sigtau305]

Originally posted by TheEpitome1920
Does your organization require that members be registered voters?

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

It's not a requirement, but it is a Interesting Idea.

[Sister Havana]

Minor hijack: Meanwhile there was a controversy at IU last year when people in several GLOs all requested mail-in ballots...requests collected by local Republican volunteers:

County probes student ballot requests

Republicans defend ballots

Parties clash over student ballots

[WCUgirl]

It's not like registering to vote is a huge process.

Here in NC, when you get your driver's license, the DMV worker asks you if you would like to register to vote. You don't have to fill out any forms b/c you just gave them all that info for your DL...all you have to say is what party you want to be affiliated with.

If an extra 30 seconds of your (the collective you) time is too much effort to put into something, my God you are lazy.

[Shima-Mizu]

We don't require girls to be registered to vote.

I registered in the mail since I'm 800+ miles away from home and going back to register wasn't an easy thing to do.

I'll also be voting by absentee ballot later this year too. Easy stuff.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by TheEpitome1920
I just had to say something, to the men of Alpha Phi Alpha I hope you don't mind...

As the oldest collegiate fraternity established for African American men its OBVIOUS that this requirement has not hendered their membership nor their ability to provide phi-nomenal service to the community. And those who find it a turn-off seek membership elsewhere and get on with their lives. How could one you find voter registration a turn off, especially if you are from a group that was historically denied access to voting??

I was just saying that it could be a turn off for foreign students (or under 18s...but he could always wait until he's 18 to join) who might be interested in being in a member.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Vote Libertarian!

Okay, now that's out of my system, I have a very hard time believing that APhiA does not make exceptions for people who are not eligible to vote.

On a related note, any notable womens' suffragists in GLO's? I bet they would all want their sisters to vote.

[Senusret I]

Originally posted by Taualumna
I was just saying that it could be a turn off for foreign students (or under 18s...but he could always wait until he's 18 to join) who might be interested in being in a member.

If they are truly interested, they will find a way.

[Senusret I]

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby
Okay, now that's out of my system, I have a very hard time believing that APhiA does not make exceptions for people who are not eligible to vote.

Yup....as I said before, a foreign student would have to find out more info from the appropriate officials. I know that we do have international Brothers. Heck, Norman Manley (founder of the People Party of Jamaica) was an Alpha.

Like I said, I hope people visit our website, because it's kind of obvious why we require it.

[adduncan]

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby
On a related note, any notable womens' suffragists in GLO's? I bet they would all want their sisters to vote.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a Pi Phi, I believe.
HBO's movie "Iron Jawed Angels" failed to include her arrow tho.

--add
(edited to get the name correct)

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Senusret I
Yup....as I said before, a foreign student would have to find out more info from the appropriate officials. I know that we do have international Brothers. Heck, Norman Manley (founder of the People Party of Jamaica) was an Alpha.

Like I said, I hope people visit our website, because it's kind of obvious why we require it.

You have a chapter at the University of Toronto. Canadians are pretty much automatically registered to vote as soon as they turn 18 (i.e. I don't remember actually filling in a form to register. I just get my voter's card in the mail a couple of weeks before an election, and off I go). What happens there?

[Senusret I]

Originally posted by Taualumna
You have a chapter at the University of Toronto. Canadians are pretty much automatically registered to vote as soon as they turn 18 (i.e. I don't remember actually filling in a form to register. I just get my voter's card in the mail a couple of weeks before an election, and off I go). What happens there?

Well, Taualumna, we can look at the issue three ways.

Firstly, if Canadians are "registered" when they turn 18, then clearly that's not a concern for Canadian Brothers, is it? Do you think my fraternity would not understand that voter registration might be different in a different country?

Secondly, most people who want to be Alphas KNOW they want to be Alphas for a while. They don't just show up the first week of school, attend and interest meeting, and GET PICKED. We don't pick people we don't know. IF Canadian Brothers DO have to show proof of registration when they apply, then they had just better get a photocopy of their card made BEFORE they surrender it to vote.

Finally, I already said above:

We only have one chapter in Canada and I don't know what they do to resolve the issue.

That chapter is relatively new, and I don't know any of them. If I run into any, I'll be sure to get the OFFICIAL answer.

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by Taualumna
You have a chapter at the University of Toronto. Canadians are pretty much automatically registered to vote as soon as they turn 18 (i.e. I don't remember actually filling in a form to register.

(tangent - it's done using income taxes (that little box you can tick), and other lists that have your age on it (eg renters info. Some people still go through the loops and have to register directly when an election is called)

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by kappaloo
(tangent - it's done using income taxes (that little box you can tick), and other lists that have your age on it (eg renters info. Some people still go through the loops and have to register directly when an election is called)

Ahhhh...thanks, Kappaloo.

[KappaKittyCat]

As my sister Shima-Mizu stated, voter registration is not a condition of pledging or initiating into KKG.

Do I think it should be a requirement? No, not for KKG. Kappas have long had a legacy of promoting political awareness. Last semester when I was doing research for my thesis at the University of Wisconsin, I found pictures in the archives of members of Kappa's Eta Chapter taking place in sufferage rallies. This and similar events occurred throughout the nation. I do believe that as responsible citizens, Kappas-- as part of our Tradition of Leadership-- should encourage political involvement, whether that is in the form of sponsoring debates, holding voter registration drives, or shuttling college students to and from their local polling place. However, political involvement was never one of the founding purposes of Kappa. The preamble to our constitution, written by our Founders in early 1870, does not discuss political involvement:

We, believing a closer union in the bonds of friendship to be for our mutual benefit, appreciating the advantages to be derived from a secret fraternity, and feeling that in union there is strength, hereby form ourselves into an association for the development of nobler qualities of the mind and finer feelings of the heart, and for mutual helpfulness in the attainment of individual and social excellence.

Nor does our mission statement, adopted in 1980, explicitly discuss politics:

Kappa Kappa Gamma is an organization of women, which seeks for every member throughout her life bonds of friendship, mutual support, opportunities for self growth, respect for intellectual development, and an understanding of and allegiance to positive ethical principles.

Because our stated purpose does not directly mention political involvement and because ultimately the decision to participate in the democratic process is a personal one, I do not feel that Kappa is failing in its purpose by not requiring voter registration of its members.

When you consider the founding purposes of the NPHC organizations, however, the question takes on a different look. I pulled these off of the organizational websites (all emphasis is mine):

The objectives of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. are to stimulate the ambition of its members; to prepare them for the greatest usefulness in the cause of humanity, freedom, and dignity of the individual; to encourage the highest and noblest form of manhood; and to aid downtrodden humanity in its efforts to achieve higher social, economic, and intellectual status.

In realizing its mission, Delta Sigma Theta provides an extensive array of public service through its Five-Point Program Thrust of Physical and Mental Health, Educational Development, Economic Development, International Awareness and Involvement, and Political Awareness and Involvement.

NPHC: Working together to achieve educational, social, economic, and political empowerment.

So when you look at the stated missions of the NPHC organizations, it makes quite a lot of sense that they should require that their members be registered to vote in their country of citizenship. How else are they going to achieve their goals?