NEC fighting hard to 'get out the vote'

Student government elections season is halfway over and “going strong,” according to Nominations and Elections Committee Vice Chairwoman for Elections Patricia Liu, a Wharton senior.

The NEC hosted Get Out the Vote — an annual event aimed at drawing voters to the polls — Wednesday on Locust Walk.

With lots of students and candidates passing by, as well as free food and prizes such as Spring Fling concert floor passes to give away, Get Out the Vote was a “successful event,” according to Liu.

As of 1 a.m. on Thursday, the voter turnout rate is 39.3 percent — a figure which Liu said is “solid” considering the numbers typically slump on Wednesday and Thursday of election week.

Last year, voter turnout reached 49.8 percent by the end of elections, but the NEC is expecting even higher numbers at the end of this week.

Given the excitement and attention surrounding the new presidential and vice presidential races, Liu explained, her “own personal goal” is a voter turnout of 55 percent.

Additionally, she added, NEC tries to flyer a lot on Friday. “We usually see a large percent jump on the last day,” she said.

While the NEC bolstered its efforts with Get Out the Vote, the two presidential candidates intensified their campaigns.

College junior Grant Dubler and his team have been going door-to-door in Hill College House and the Quad, trying to win the Class of 2013’s support.

Dubler has also launched a second campaign video, available on his personal web site, YouTube and his campaign’s Facebook page.

“We’re about as confident as ever that we can win this race,” Dubler wrote in an e-mail. “We’ve come from being a huge underdog to being a real contender.”

College junior and UA presidential candidate Matt Amalfitano is also “continuing to meet people,” he said, “which is the best way to prepare for being president.”

Regardless of his current standing, he added, “it’s important to keep going 100 percent to get out the vote — not just for president, but for everybody.”

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