Only a third of students are registered to vote and actually vote, the Rock the Boat event planned on changing that on Oct. 20.
The event was made possible by the Student Life and Leadership Center, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Holistic Achievement With Knowledge and Service, Multicultural Innovative Community for Academic Success and Achievement and the League of Women Voters with Armando Salud, CA deputy of elections, as the guest speaker.
The event lasted for about an hour and a half with about 37 students attending the event and being able to ask questions about registering to vote and the importance of voting.
“It is a fun time where students learn about the history of voting and why it’s important to vote and they get to mingle with their student government representatives,” said Kayla Anaya, the supervisor of SLLC.
Members of the organizations were able to converse with students and expressed the importance of voting.
“Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. and we want to make sure that our students also are aware of that,” said Raul Pasamonte, director of APIDA HAWKS. “They have the power to shape the elections close by and also at the national level.”
LWV was also there and ready to help inform students on how to vote and also had brochures and cards that offered tips and opportunities to volunteer temporarily as poll workers.
LWV members also discussed their website, Voter’s Edge, which helps viewers learn about candidates.
Professor Winnie Hung, an ethnic studies professor at CRC, brought her class to the event. Hung said that she wanted to help students realize that activism is not scary and it does not have to include drastic movements, but paying attention to what is happening in your community and voting.
“I think today was a really great introduction to kind of the process and even the importance of voting and making that more concrete for students,” said Hung.
Hung said future events should be more focused on the voting process and allow students to ask honest questions such as, “What does that do and how is it different from that massive election to a small-scale election?”