Yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in support of a Texas electoral map system to base the drawing of legislative voting districts on total population, not just registered voters, will not affect plans for the Baylor University College Republicans (BUCR).
Club members will make several attempts this month to register students on campus, said Marv Allen, the student group’s communications director and Longview senior.
“We are teaming up with Texans for Abbott in a series of Voter Registration drives on campus this semester.” read a post from the BUCR’s Facebook page.
The first of three will be Wednesday, followed by April 13 and April 20.
“The majority of college students probably don’t vote at all. We [BUCRs] aren’t interested in making these efforts partisan, we just want people to participate and be heard. That’s the motive behind these registration drives,” Allen said.
On Monday, the Republican club held a general meeting at the Bill Daniels Student Center to discuss the details of their agenda for the remaining semester. Aside from aiming to register new ballot casters, Highland junior and BUCR co-chair Rachael Oury outlined other goals for the next few weeks.
“The State Convention is set to be in Austin, presumably at the Capitol building, later this month on the 23. The speaker lineup is yet to be announced, but it’s usually strong and so we encourage new interest to join us in attending so they can learn more of what College Republicans are about,” Oury said.
This event is held annually by the Texas Federation of College Republicans and generally focuses on elections for new state officials within the organization. Further, affiliated members and leaders will look to revise the TXCR constitution. The federation has confirmed notable Republican speakers to address convention-goers in the past. The opportunity to hear from elected officials and key persons involved in the state’s Republican Party apparatus is a draw for some attendees.
In addition to reviewing upcoming schedule objectives, the BUCR group also provided candidates running for student government positions the chance to speak and lay out their campaign platforms.
The audience heard first from Katy sophomore Amye Dickerson and Lubbock sophomore Montgomery Miller, both running against each other for the external vice president slot. Joel Polvado, who is running unopposed for the internal vice president position, gave his speech next. Lastly, Port Barre, La. junior Lindsey Bacque and Tomball junior Alex Plott made their pitches for why they should be elected Student Body President. These races conclude this week as elections are to be held on campus Thursday and Friday.
