By Crystal Garcia
Ashley Roce sat in the Cunningham Memorial Library eating pizza with her friends, waiting to see the impact of her first vote in a presidential election.
Roce, a 23-year-old senior at Indiana State University from Terre Haute, was joined by about 150 other people at the fifth Pizza and Politics event, hosted by the American Democracy Project and general education program.
Students gathered around 5:45 p.m. in front of the Condit House to walk to the library to watch the returns and eat pizza. ISU President Dan Bradley joined them.
“It’s a right for every American,” Roce said about voting. “You should participate in the rights you have and you can’t complain unless you vote.”
She said she felt that the effect of her age group’s vote in this election was probably the biggest it ever has been, as she found herself participating in more things and following the news more closely.
First-time voter Matt Williams, a Brazil freshman, felt the more people in his age group that voted, the better it was for Sen. Barack Obama “because it seems like most of my age group supported him.”
He said he thought Democratic nominee Obama was going to win the election based on many poll results he had seen.
For Williams, 18, voting is important “to have a democratic system that works efficiently,” he said.
Roce also felt Obama was going to defeat Republican nominee Sen. John McCain because “[Obama is] for change and he’s very motivational.” She said he’s trying to help the middle class, the predominant class among Indiana residents.
Darlene Hantzis, campus coordinator for the American Democracy Project, agreed on their prediction.
“I really do think his campaign was well-run, he had tremendous financial support and he didn’t make any mistakes,” she said of Obama.
As for the college-age voter impact, she said there was definitely some sort.
“There’s no question they were a huge part of both campaigns,” she said.
Hantzis said some students stayed until midnight watching returns for the last presidential election. She couldn’t say how long people would stay this year, but noted the library closes at 2 this morning.
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
