Bernie Sanders supporters and celebrity activists encouraged students to register to vote in the free speech area on the Mall, Tuesday, May 10.
The goal of the event was to register as many first-time voters possible. Students must be citizens, and at least 18 years old to register. It is recommended to register with the hard copy form instead of online registration, since it may not be susceptible to tampering and the hard copies can be tracked, according to student volunteer Angel Rolland.
The college tour ‘Rock the Campus for Bernie Sanders’ has been visiting universities throughout the California. Student volunteers and celebrity activists including Charlyne Yi, Gaby Hoffmann and Nicholas Gonzalez, all play a role in speaking on behalf of the Bernie Sanders campaign and registering students to vote.
All volunteers and activists were there to help and answer any doubts that first-time students registering had.
Hoffmann emphasized the importance of people participating in these elections, because if one doesn’t participate in democracy, then there isn’t one, which has unfortunately undermined and is working effectively as an Oligarchy.
“We need discoverment in this system. For this country to work as it’s meant to which is abying for the people,” Hoffmann said. “One person one vote. But we can’t do that without people rising up and demanding that. They need to vote to have a say.”
Yi, was surprised at how easily the students were registering and mentioned how it’s important for them to do so because their lives matter and besides being students, as a human being in life they have the opportunity to help one another and ourselves by voting and making the country better.
“It’s funny because there are some students who are excited about registering and some who we reminded that they still hadn’t done so on what they were hoping to achieve,” said Yi. “We just want to inform students about what’s going on and that if they care about these social issues that are happening in our world then they should definitely get involved because their voices matter.”
Gonzalez expressed how college students are the hardest group to target and get involved because they think that someone else is going to handle the issue.
“I feel that a lot of us are apathetic, and we have a reason to be. For me personally, it wasn’t until Bernie Sanders that I got out of my apathy and said, ‘Here’s actually someone who is talking as a real person and someone who doesn’t care about the title,’” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez feels that historically new voters and colleges students are the least represented, and that it shouldn’t be that way.
“A lot of honesty comes out of Sanders, and I’m traditionally someone who likes to sit on the sidelines and think that someone else is going to handle it, but Sanders has inspired me to go out and be involved,” Gonzalez said.
Psychology and fashion design student Andrea Reyes supports Sanders because he is one of the candidates that she believes is honest.
“He [Sanders] doesn’t hide anything to his followers or anyone,” Reyes said. “Sanders speaks the truth and is one of the Democrats who actually wants to follow countries like Denmark or Sweden in providing students with a free education.”
“Students should vote because it gives them a voice and if they want change then they have to act on it and not sit back and complain when something doesn’t go the right way,” Reyes said. “If you want to make a difference even if it’s just with your vote then do it because your vote counts and can make an entire difference.”
