Floats for Votes invited the opportunity for VanCougs to engage with local politicians over root beer floats at WSU Vancouver.
Floats for Votes connects students and faculty to meet local political representatives, organizations and candidates running for various positions such as school boards, city council, county council and district council.
This annual WSU Vancouver event was run by ASWSUV on Oct. 2 and gave students the opportunity to connect with the officials, share beliefs and drink root beer floats.
At the event, Chancellor Mel Netzhammer said, “Preparing the next generation of active citizens, who engage with their communities, is something that higher [education] has traditionally done and in some years we’ve moved away from that. So it’s really great to see people coming together around political engagement regardless of party or political preference.”
He explained that those elected and running for election have a responsibility to listen to students. This event is traditionally run by student leaders and he thinks this is because students want their voices heard.
“[Students] are a major voting block in this community, [our student leaders] want our students to be politically engaged,” Netzhammer said. “To make the right choice, and to make the best choices for them and this forum creates that opportunity.”
Director of Legislative Affairs Andrea Alejandra, a senior studying social science, coordinated the event with the hope it would allow students to be civically engaged and meet candidates and representatives face to face.
Alejandra encourages students to be continually engaged in their government, not just when it is time to vote. “I want civic engagement, not so much just about voting.”
Alejandra believes engagement is the first step active participation in one’s community, “I really hope that people will start to ask more questions, not just from their local government, but from a federal and statewide level and learn to be more engaged and knowledgeable on the offices that holds a lot of power here in our communities.”
Some candidates in attendance included Chris Lewis, Tracie Barrows and Lisa Messer for Vancouver School Board positions. David Regan is running for position five and Jeanne Stewart and Sarah Fox who are each competing for position six on the Vancouver City Council.
Mayor Pro Tem Bart Hansen, a WSU alumnus, was also in attendance this year. “I graduated from here with [a political science degree]. I always had an interest in politics and so it’s great to see other Cougars with that same interest,” he said.
Hansen has been a member of the city council since 2010. He said planning for the future is another reason he feels it is important to meet students at WSU Vancouver. “Having WSU Vancouver here in Clark County is such a big deal to us,” he said. “A lot of these Cougs are going to stay here, they’re going to work for [the City of Vancouver.]”
Hensen explained that VanCougs will be the city’s future cops, engineers, firefighters, planners and so on. It is important to cultivate these relationships now, to ensure future success.
While Floats for Votes is to encourage students to register and vote, Hensen said it is not just about voting but also local civic engagement. He explained that although many people get excited about presidential elections, it is the local elections that impact your day-to-day life.
Online voter registration has closed as of Oct. 28. In-person voter registration and voter ballots due date for this year’s general election will close Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.
Brody Voge is a junior at WSU Vancouver studying strategic communications.