The UNM chapter of the Public Interest Research Group is putting a buccaneering spin on voter registration.
As part of its "Arrrrrre You Registered to Vote?" campaign, about 15 volunteers dressed up as pirates and hopped aboard the "vote boat." Instead of searching for booty and hidden treasure, these bandits set out to register college students for the Nov. 4 election.
The group registered about 20 students Wednesday in Smith Plaza and informed about 100 others of the benefits of voting, said Sean DeBuck, president of PIRG.
He said the striped T-shirts and eye patches were chosen to match the homecoming theme of "It's a Lobo's Life for Me."
"Especially around homecoming, we'll be able to incorporate the pirate theme a lot more on campus," DeBuck said. "We're trying to show students that voter registration can be fun, and we are thinking of creative ways to get students involved."
DeBuck said the pirates have more plans for conquest.
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"In the coming weeks, we might have a pirates versus ninjas dodgeball game," DeBuck said.
He said the group will continue to register voters on campus until the Oct. 7 deadline to increase the number of eligible voters at UNM.
"The youth vote is often underrepresented because so few of us turn out," DeBuck said. "We have one of the lowest voter turnouts of all ages. The thing is, if we don't have that kind of political clout, politicians don't have a reason to listen to us."
Skye Fort, coordinator for the event, said it is important for students to exercise their right to vote.
"This is a democracy we live in," she said. "People need to remember that and know they have a choice in what happens in our country."
Fort said students do not recognize that it is a right and a privilege to vote.
"A lot of people ignore that right, and it's sad because we have a right to choose our future, and in many other places, they don't," she said.
Fort said she promotes voter registration regardless of political affiliation.
"Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, the country is getting a new leader," she said. "We are getting someone brand new, and it's very important that we have students' voices heard in that decision."
Stephanie Mergelsberg, campus organizer for PIRG, said all voter registration groups aim to increase youth voter turnout.
"What we are trying to do, as well as other groups on campus, is to get students to understand that every vote is important," she said. "Politicians need to listen to younger voters because they could potentially decide the election this time around."
Mergelsberg said she would like to see all campus voter registration groups unite, regardless of affiliation.
She said her organization also promotes a texting campaign where students text "studentvote" to 41411 for a message to forward to friends. Students can also register online at StudentVote.org, a Web site that makes registering to vote easy,
she said.
"In this day and age, we are really used to filling things out online," Mergelsberg said. "It is really easy to register, and there's no excuse not to."
To get a voter registration form, visit StudentVote.org or visit the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office on the sixth floor of 1 Civic Plaza.
