Harrisonburg elections show sparse JMU turnout
By Colleen Pettie, contributing writer
Posted on April 10, 2006

A quick glance at the voter registration list indicates few JMU students are registered to vote in Harrisonburg elections.

SGA President Wesli Spencer (Sr.) explained that not being registered to vote is a trend among people in the age range of 18 to 24.

 “In college you don’t feel the direct effects of your vote,” Spencer said. “Whereas when you’re older, you have an income and a family and you can see the outcome of your vote.”

Of  all the Virginia schools, JMU has the second-highest voter registration among students, but not when it comes to registering locally. Spencer attributed this to a matter of convenience. For instance, if a student does not have a car, he or she cannot travel to the site where voting is held. Even if he or she has a car, they have to figure out where the site is and how to find it.

“It’s easier to mail in a ballot,” he said.  “Over the four years, students see themselves as a transient population.”

Senior Amanda Juhas, a resident of Northern Virginia, said that it is more convenient for her to vote using an absentee ballot rather than establish residency in Harrisonburg and vote here.

 “I’m not going to go home to vote,” Juhas said.

Katie Raich, a senior from Warrenton, said she is not registered to vote locally because she plans to leave Harrisonburg after she graduates.

“College is a time to develop one’s identity, leadership skills and personal career goals,” Raich said. “People are focused on other things. It should matter more, but if a new tax law is going to be passed, people think ‘Who cares? It doesn’t affect me.  I don’t have to pay taxes until I graduate.’”

Spencer believes there could be a major shift in how the local community sees JMU students if more people vote locally. “We’d have a lot of influence in how the city develops because the town is small,” he said. “A couple thousand votes could do a lot.”

“I’m not a resident here, so it’s not really my business,” Raich said. “Harrisonburg to a lot of people is just the medium for the college experience.”

Through Virginia21, SGA encourages students to vote by attempting to show the benefits and providing a medium for students to vote in elections.

SGA voter turnout in 2006 and 2005 elections were 17 percent, compared to 2004 when they were 13 percent and 2003 when 20 percent of students at JMU voted for SGA offices.

Sophomore Gretchen Swartzbaugh voted in the SGA elections and is active with the Harrisonburg community through her service fraternity. However, she said she is more interested in SGA than Harrisonburg as far as voting is concerned, and is not registered to vote in the area.

A 2002 survey on civicyouth.com said 42 percent of students in the United States think candidates would rather talk to older, wealthier citizens in order to gain their vote, rather than students.

“What would the Harrisonburg candidates do for me if I voted for them?” Swartzbaugh said in reference to city council elections.

Senior Gina Currence offered a few solutions.

“We need to be made more aware of upcoming elections and the impact we could have on them, whether it’s through the JMU Web site, posters around campus, or fliers on the Commons,” Currence said.“For example, ‘this candidate could help us have more metered parking,’ or ‘this candidate could help us better organize this or that,’ etc.”

Wesli Spencer said the SGA has been toying with ideas of putting booths on campus next year to make it easier for students to vote.

Voter registration is closed for the upcoming city council election in May.