Today is the deadline to register to vote for the Oct. 2 mayoral race, and several campus groups will make sure students have a chance to cast their ballots.
Groups such as the UNM chapter of the New Mexico Public Interest Research Group, College Republicans and City Council candidate Eric Griego's campaign will be registering people to vote at a variety of places on campus.
Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said that forms must be in her office, which is on the sixth floor of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Government Building at 1 Civic Plaza NW, by 5 p.m. today in order to meet the deadline.
"You can pick up forms at the motor vehicle department offices and at my office, among other places, but the most important thing is that you turn it in by the 5 p.m. deadline," she said. "It's really important that people get the forms in so that they can participate and make sure their voices are heard. It's a way of letting your representatives know what it is you want. Besides, you can't complain if you don't vote."
To be eligible to vote in the mayoral election, you must be an Albuquerque resident, a U.S. citizen, not legally declared mentally incapacitated, not have been convicted of a felony and 18 years or older at the time of the next election.
The voter registration form requires a person's name, address and signature.
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UNMPIRG director Shannon Lumpkin said the group will probably set up a booth by the Duck Pond at lunch time to register people to vote.
"We have the forms hanging outside our door in the basement of the old bookstore, which people have access to all day," she said. "They can grab what they need from there if they can't find anyone on campus to help them out."
Lumpkin said that students should take time to register to vote because it is the easiest way they can have a say in the future.
"I think that the students definitely have a large hand in elections," she said. "We have close to 20,000 students on campus, which means we have a relatively large number of Bernalillo County residents. It's clear that the student voice has the potential to have a major influence on local elections."
Griego, who is a UNM visiting lecturer running for the District 3 council seat, will be on campus between the La Posada Dining Hall and the Student Residence Center urging students to register to vote. His campaign workers will be registering students in that area from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to give them enough time to turn the forms into the county clerk's office.
"For the campaign, it's important for us to see young people registering to vote," said Neri Holguin, a representative from Griego's campaign. "We want to make sure people know they can vote, where to vote and how to vote."
Holguin, a recent UNM graduate, said that she was always interested in community organizing and helping people take an active role in the politics that shape their lives. She said that experience prompted her to work on Griego's campaign and his efforts to register voters.
"Students who are living on campus make up a big part of the city's population and could really determine the outcome," she said. "In the past this age block of 18-24 year-olds has been the most ignored because they vote the least. Now, we want them to exercise their rights to vote to make sure they are better represented."
Griego's campaign has targeted the Student Residence Center area to register those living on campus.
"We want them to vote because they will be here for the next three or four years and should take an interest in what happens in their community because it will affect them," Holguin said.
According to the state PIRG office, 231,000 voters registered to vote for the last mayoral election, with 76,344 casting ballots.
For more information about voter registration or other election information, click on the county clerk link at www.bernco.gov or call the clerk's office at 768-4090.
