n, the UCSB Voter Registration Volunteer Coalition is working with various campus groups in an effort to register 1,800 more voters by tonight’s 8 p.m. deadline.

At the time of the last presidential election, UCSB ranked top in the nation for voter registration rates. This year the voting coalition is working in collaboration with Associated Students, Greek organizations, CALPIRG and politically-minded groups such as Campus Democrats and College Republicans to gain top numbers once again.

David Washington, an intern with the coalition, said the school is on track to break its historic 2008 record of 10,800 total forms. While campus organizations are working hard to keep up momentum for the final registration push, Washington said this year’s campaign is already remarkably close to its goal.

“We’re just above 9,200 [registrations] and we are aiming for 11,000 by the end of tomorrow,” Washington said.

According to CALPIRG student organizer Kat Lockwood, CALPIRG has collected 800 forms so far and is working to get a total of 1,000 by tonight.

Lockwood said California’s new online voter registration has been extremely helpful for student voters and has garnered 1,235 registrations from the UCSB community thus far.

“The California online registration system has made it easier. Especially considering other states have passed voter registration laws that have made it harder for students to vote,” Lockwood said. “In addition to online voting, we are excited to have worked with the Voter Registration Volunteer Coalition that registers voters all across the country.”

For online voter registration visit http://www.californiastudentvote.org/register-to-vote-ca.

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