Daily Egyptian
Fall '04 Edition
USG leaders revise estimate of ineligible student voters
Monique Garcia
mgarcia@dailyegyptian.com
Although Undergraduate Student Government President Tequia Hicks initially reported that more than 100 voter registration forms were turned in too late, she now says the number was an exaggeration and is actually much lower.
"When I went to the clerks office I just had a stack and told them that there were 150 hoping I could convince them to take them," Hicks said. "I thought they would be like, 'Oh, we can't turn all those away.' But after counting them [Tuesday] we found out that there is actually only 40 forms."
Throughout September and early October, Hicks acted as a middleman for groups and individuals that were registering students on campus by offering to have them drop their forms off at the USG office.
But when Hicks went to turn in the forms Oct. 7 she was told some of the forms should have been mailed in earlier, therefore making most of the forms invalid.
Jackson County Clerk Larry Reinhardt said he didn't know the exact number of forms turned away, but he said it was a "pretty good amount." Overall, he said the number of voters who were registering for the first time comprised a small minority of the stack while most of the forms were for those trying to change their addresses.
"I have to sympathize with Tequia," Reinhardt said. "I felt bad that we couldn't take the forms, but I couldn't jeopardize the integrity of this election by accepting forms that may or may not have been legal at that time.
"Unfortunately the laws have changed so much over the last two years, many individuals aren't aware of the registration deadlines. We still have people walking to the office now, a week out, trying to register."
"I can only apologize for a lack of knowledge," Hicks said. "I didn't wake up and say 'Oh, I'm not turning these in today.'"
While Hicks said it was her responsibility to turn the forms in on time, TyJuan Cratic, a USG member who gave Hicks about 10 registration forms to turn in for him, said Hicks volunteered USG for the job whether she meant to or not.
"The fact is that USG took these forms in," Cratic said. "And that is disappointing. As an organization, we let a lot of people down. If this was another organization, one I wasn't involved in, I would be just as upset because the facts remain - they didn't get turned in."
In a meeting with some DAILY EGYPTIAN staff, USG Vice President Nate Brown said he understands why USG is being affiliated with the mix-up, but said he doesn't want the group's good deeds to go unnoticed.
"USG has consistently registered hundreds of people," Brown said. "This is one of those things with zero room for error. People expect you to get every single one in and that's a fair expectation. But USG's name has gone through the mud for so many things over the years. This is an individual thing, a misunderstanding."
So far Hicks said 12 of the 40 people who tried to register have been informed of the mistake and all 12 are eligible to vote absentee.
"We're working on informing everyone effected A.S.A.P.," Hicks said. "We want those eligible to get absentee ballots mailed off as soon as they can."
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Last update: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 8:26:22 PM
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