In addition to campaigning and canvassing during this election, students at AU and other schools across the country will assist in the electoral process by working at polling places.
Some AU students have signed up to work at area polling places Nov. 4 through AU's Center for Democracy and Election Management. The deadline has passed for students to sign up to work at the polls this year.
Other AU students are working at the polls through one of their other classes.
Laiah Idelson, a senior in the School of Communication, is working at the polls this November with her class, "Election 2008: Politics, Polls and the Youth Vote."
"I think it's important for young people to be engaged in the political process," she said. "If working in the polls is the way they choose to engage themselves then I think that's a good way to see voting in action."
Tommy Medaglia, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said he is volunteering to work at the polls this November with his father. He said he thinks it's important to work at the polls because it gives him a chance to participate in America's democratic process.
"It's just an incredible experience to see the U.S. political process in action," he said. "My dad's a lobbyist, so I've grown up with politics and government my entire life. By volunteering many, many hours to the political process, I feel like I'm giving back to my country."
Poll work is a beneficial experience for students and their communities, said Luke Falcon Sapp, president of the AU College Democrats.
"It's basically a win-win situation for everybody involved because AU students get the chance to give back to their community, and they even get paid for it," he said.
Poll workers can earn between $120 and $140 for working on Election Day and attending a training session a few weeks before. Volunteers normally work at their assigned polling location from 6:30 a.m. and until around 9 p.m., or whenever the precinct captain lets them go, according to the Center for Democracy and Election Management's Web site.
AU students are more inclined to work at polling stations than students at other schools, Falcon Sapp said.
"I think that the political nature of our campus ... creates an atmosphere where students are more likely to enjoy working the polls than students on other campuses," he said.
Young people should become more involved in the election process because it is enjoyable and beneficial to America's democratic system, Medaglia said.
"I think that having young people work the polls helps them realize the importance of voting and that every vote counts," he said. "I mean, it's long, it's tiring, ... but it's worth it."
Eagle Staff Writer Rebecca Kern contributed to this article.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
