Ball State University sophomore Rachel Hunter is registered tovote in this year's presidential election. Like many students,however, she's unsure if her vote will really matter, she said.
"I know each vote counts, but I really don't know how," Huntersaid.
Freshman Jonathon Kaiser said he has already voted by absenteeballot, but he almost didn't vote because he knew Indiana usuallyvotes Republican.
"I voted Democratic," Kaiser said. "I thought about not voting,but I thought I might as well. It's my way to tell the governmentwhat I want."
Many Ball State students don't think their votes really matterin the presidential election, and they could be right, JosephLosco, professor of political science, said.
"Those who support the Democratic president could very wellthink that because [Indiana] so regularly delivers Republicanvotes," Losco said.
He said the number of voters ages 18 to 24 has steadily declinedsince 1972. In the 2000 presidential election, only 35 percent ofyoung adults in Indiana voted, which was less than the nationalaverage of 42 percent.
But Losco said just because Indiana isn't a battleground statefor this year's presidential election doesn't mean students have nopower in this year's local and state elections. In fact, they havea lot more power than they think, he said.
Depending on where students are registered and whether or notthey turn out on Election Day, they can affect some of the closerraces in the state, such as the governor's race with DemocraticGov. Joe Kernan and Republican opponent Mitch Daniels and the racefor the Indiana State House of Representatives, Losco said.
He said these races could alter the state's Democratic andRepublican balance, as there are currently 51 Democrats and 49Republicans in the House.
"There are a couple of key match-ups around the state, dependingon where they go, that the House of Representatives might go to theRepublican Party, or the Democrats might narrowly hold on again,"Losco said.
He said Tiny Adams, Democratic representative for Muncie'scongressional district, will face no competition this year becauseonly Libertarian opponent Leon Dixon is running against him. "Withno Republican challenger, this is really no contest," Loscosaid.
However, he said students who live in Anderson or in some partsof Indianapolis have the opportunity to vote in two of the state'smore competitive races. Democratic state representative Ron Liggitshould be in a very close race with Republican candidate Bill Davisin District 33 in Anderson, he said.
He said the race between Democratic state representative DavidOrentlicher and Republican candidate Mort Large in Indianapolis'District 86 will be another close one.
"No matter where they live, they can have an impact on thegovernor's race, because that, according to the polls, is veryclose," Losco said.
He said states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota have politicallyactive student populations, which allowed late U.S. Senator PaulWellstone in Minnesota and U.S. Senator Russ Feingold in Wisconsinto get elected in the past.
But many Ball State students don't take the time to vote locallybecause they generally don't have a sense of being rooted in thelocal community, he said.
"They're away from home, they don't feel any attachments to theMuncie community and they don't have a lot of ties that make one alikely voter," Losco said. "They don't pay taxes, they don't ownproperty and they're at a point in their lives when politicsdoesn't seem so relevant."
Losco said many local candidates don't even come out to talk tostudents because they know students tend not to vote. However, hesaid one of the biggest predictors of voting is a collegeeducation, so they assume college students will eventually becomevoters once they get jobs and start paying taxes.
Kaiser said he voted in a local election in his hometown ofAurora and plans to continue voting in state and localelections.
"It's a right -- you're supposed to," Kaiser said. "You justhave to pay attention a little bit, then you'll know what's goingon."
He also said he encourages students to at least vote in thisyear's gubernatorial election because it affects them a lot morethan they think.
"That's going to affect what kind of money they get from thestate to go to school," he said. "It affects their life."
The Ball State University Democrats, College Republicans and BSULibertarians -- the university's three student political groups --are striving to encourage more students to get involved in thepolitical process now by voting.
Senior Chris Adamo, president of Ball State University's CollegeRepublicans, said the Republicans even held a voter registrationdrive and provided absentee ballot applications during the lastweek of September to encourage more students to vote Nov. 2.
"Every vote counts," Adamo said. "We saw that four years agowith the presidential election ... It's the same as in any state.Some races come down to a few thousand people. Every votecounts."
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