Ask Nancy Change your voter registration

Nancy Davis
Columnist

   Are you tired of paying almost $2 a gallon for gas? What about your cost of school tuition? Do you have someone you know fighting in Iraq?

   Well, this is your year to voice your opinion. The 2004 Presidential election is coming up this November. Voting in this election is a way for you to tell the government your view. And before you start saying "one vote isn’t going to change anything," think back to the 2000 Presidential election.

   In the 2000 Presidential election, each vote made a difference. What if this is another close election? Your vote could help make the decision on who will be president for the next four years. You owe it to yourself and to the ones around you to vote. Since Sept. 11, 2001, your life has been affected more than you know. Our generation is the one that is feeling the impact from these terrorist attacks more than any other generation. Our generation will be the one in battle, if the war continues.

   Now, I bet many of you reading this are saying "I am not registered to vote" or "I am not going to be home to vote." Pay close attention because I am going to tell you how to solve both these problems.

   If you have not registered to vote, contact your home's local County/Parish Clerk's office. They will mail a registration card for you to complete and return.

   Now if you don’t have time to call, then go to your home state's Web site. Almost all state government’s have a Web site dedicated to online registration. You simply type in www. then your state abbreviation .gov in your Internet browser (e.g. www.arkansas.gov) and click on go.

   To make things easier, register to vote in Drew County. This allows you not only to vote for federal and state issues without leaving Monticello, but it gives you the opportunity to vote on local issues that have an effect on your campus life at UAM. But by doing so, you cannot be registered to vote from your home county/parish.

   Now if you don’t want to register in Drew County, you can contact your local County/Parish Clerk to receive an absentee card. This allows you to vote early and it can be done in person or by mail.

   Registering to vote or requesting an absentee card does not take that much time out of your life. However, voting will affect your life. This is your life and your duty to voice your opinion by voting in the November election.

**This is normally an advice column. However, since this is the first issue of this semester's Voice, I took it on myself to write an article on voter registration. For the rest of the year, I would love to answer any question on your minds. However, if I do not answer your question the week you submit it, keep a look out because it could be in the next issue! So for advice, email your questions to NLD1214@uamont.edu.

Have a comment? Please e-mail us.