Students must register to vote in Delaware County within three days to make a difference in approximately 20 elections this year.
If they do not, Congressman Mike Pence - or one of his opponents (Melina Fox and Doris Robertson) - will debate Bush's war on terror without student input.
State representative Tiny Adams - or his opponent, Tom Bennington - will determine how much money the state gives the university with no student voice to hearken back to.
"Certainly any legislator, or any elected official, recognizes their voting constituency, and if students don't recognize their right to vote, they become a silent voice," said Ball State's Tom Morrison, who works with state legislators on university issues. "They (legislators) don't see young people as an enormous voting block. Legislators, just like everybody else, don't want to raise tuition."
Though students may live in Muncie, their voting rights stay at home. If students decide to vote here, they must change their registration in the voter registration office in the Delaware County Building.
Once the office closes at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, however, students' voting rights in Delaware County vanishes.
Relocating registration to Delaware County only takes a few minutes, said County Clerk Karen Wenger, and involves filling out a one-page application available at the county building.
Once a students register, they can help decide the fate of Pence and Adams - if they can find out where to vote.
The county contains 98 voting precincts, but the clerk's Web site, www.dcclerk.org, provides a link that will help students find their voting place. Students living in residence halls north of Petty Road will vote at Northside Middle School. Students in the rest of the residence halls will vote in the Student Center.
It will cost students to register here - though not in dollar amounts.
Wenger said students who vote in Delaware County can no longer do so in their home counties.
For students not willing to make the sacrifice - or for those who fail to register in Delaware County by Monday - they can either return home or mail in an absentee ballot.
Absentee mail ballots are available in the clerk's office, also in the county building. Mail ballots must be received by Oct. 28 by the county clerk of the intended county.
An address for each clerk's office is available on Indiana's Web site, www.in.gov.
Students returning home can also vote with an absentee ballot before the election.
Regardless of the method, students need to vote, said Gary Crawley, an assistant professor of political science.
"I think if students voted, they would actually feel satisfaction," Crawley said. "Voting is almost a ritual. It's a part of democracy. You're fulfilling your civic duty and civic responsibility.
"I also think...that if the students vote in large numbers...it shows they are paying attention."
Despite the urgings of political scientists, voters age 18-22 remain the lowest in voter turnout - regardless if the election is at a local, state or national level, Crawley said.
"Community connections aren't there," he said. "You're not connected in terms of a career and settling down. For a fair number, there's so many things going on that are unrelated to government, or appear unrelated to government."
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