News > August 28, 2008

By Chantel O’Neal | Staff writer

With the presidential race remaining neck and neck, we know now more than ever that every vote does count. One university student in particular, senior Michael Berkowitz, wanted to ensure that every student’s voice was heard on Election Day. Berkowitz spent the summer planning and organizing a non-partisan voter registration drive that took place during freshmen move-in on August 22.

Although Berkowitz took on the task with no other volunteers, the drive was sponsored by Democracy Matters, a campus-based national organization.

As a member of Democracy Matters since freshmen year and now the leader of the university’s chapter, Berkowitz accepted the challenge of registering all incoming freshmen alone.

“I got the voter registration forms and talked to Res Life to get permission to do it,” Berkowitz said. “My biggest mistake was talking to them a little bit later than I should have.

“Because this was the first year anything like this has taken place, there were some things that did not go according to plan. “I didn’t realize that this would be so complicated, but you have to start somewhere,” Berkowitz said.

One of the problems was registering students from other states. Most did not realize that they could register as a student of North Carolina.

In spite of any complications, 1200 forms were successfully passed out to this year’s freshmen class. The forms will be collected by RAs and returned to Berkowitz, who will personally deliver them to the Board of Elections.

Currently the number of freshmen that registered during the drive is still unknown. The final count will be determined later this week.

The exact numbers may be uncertain, but Berkowitz still feels as though he accomplished his goal. “If you present people with voter registration forms and tell them that they can vote, then we did our part.”

According to Berkowitz, the important thing is that everyone is presented with the opportunity to have their voice heard.

“For us to get what we want, we need to know that the political process is open to us. … Hopefully we can prove to people that yes, it is a huge complicated system, but it can work for people and do what needs to be done.”

The freshmen voter registration drive may be over, but Berkowitz is not slowing down. “We are going to try to go again with more forms and see what we can do as far as making sure every hall office has the forms, so people can just register there,” Berkowitz said. But his plans do not stop at simply registering voters.

“Hopefully we can move past voter registration and move on to important issues and get people involved somehow,” Berkowitz said. “But you have to take everything one step at a time.”

It may seem as though Berkowitz has taken on a lot of work and responsibility for one student, but his actions are not unwarranted.

According to the 2004 U.S. Census, only 47 percent of citizens age 18 to 24 were registered to vote.

Young adults had the lowest voting registration rate. In his personal endeavor, Berkowitz may have worked alone. However there are other campus groups and organizations that are also working to register more university students.

“I know that the Obama campaign has register roughly 150 students,” Berkowitz, who also volunteered with the campaign this past summer, said. However involved Berkowitz may be in this year’s election or Democracy Matters, he is not planning on a future in the political arena.

“It is a dirty business. I hate politics, and I know it sounds weird, but I hate politics. It is a train wreck watching it,” Berkowitz said.

“I want to fix it, but if I can do that without actually having to run for office – that would be nice.”

This may be Berkowitz’s last year at the university, but he hopes that the voter registration drive will not end here.

“I hope it becomes an annual thing to just register all the freshmen as they come in, because everyone will be here for at least one election,” Berkowitz said.

“It’s not hard to continue with. A little bit of effort goes a long way.” Berkowitz trusts that other university students will step up and continue on with the work that he has begun.