The Allegheny College Democrats are very disappointed by The Campus’s failure, in an article published Friday, Nov. 7, titled “Student political organizations encourage voter participation,” to acknowledge our efforts.

We began working on voter participation before the start of the academic year, registering dozens of students to vote during orientation. In a long afternoon, I researched the convoluted absentee voting procedures of five different states in order to help a few students vote. My colleagues spent a lot of time researching candidates on both sides to inform the Allegheny community. These are just a few examples.

But according to The Campus, there are two “student political organizations” working on voter participation: the CPP and the College Republicans. (And apparently the election was on Wednesday, Nov. 5!). We were entirely left out of the story. I think it is fair to say that, with the smallest membership and smallest budget, the College Democrats have done far more for voter participation than either of these two groups, with no disrespect intended.

It would not have been even slightly difficult for the writer to find more complete information. We put posters in prominent locations with reminders and information about voting and our voting-related events, and reminders in My Allegheny. All these were clearly labeled as coming from the College Democrats. One source quoted in the article recalls mentioning us.

The Campus has contacted me before for comments from the Allegheny College Democrats on an article which was never printed. Then, the writer spoke about the importance of getting both sides. We would have been glad to talk to The Campus about our work on voter participation had we been asked.
The Allegheny College Democrats would like to thank everyone who took the time to vote, and urge The Campus to make sure it gets the whole picture on political stories.