A recent poll conducted on MyUB showed a promising interest among UB students in the upcoming presidential election, with almost 80 percent planning to vote and over 80 percent registered.
The poll, which was conducted by the Office of Student Life, asked a series of questions relating to registration status and plans to register.
In addition to the high number of already registered voters, 75.8 percent of those who were not registered said they were planning to register. Nearly 20 percent answered "Not Sure."
However, only 300 students responded, which is less than two percent of the undergraduate population, making the results scientifically invalid.
According to Ed Brodka, an assistant director in Student Life, these numbers indicate a positive level of involvement by students.
"I think it's a positive sign that so many people think they are registered," he said.
Brodka added, however, that because of complications over temporary school addresses and absentee ballots, many students who think they are registered really aren't.
"It's important that those students who say they're registered to vote are actually registered to vote," he said.
According to Brodka, the voting process is also made confusing by multiple voting locations, which is why he plans to send out an e-mail to the entire student body about registration and proper participation.
"Not only be sure that you're registered, but be sure of where you're registered," Brodka said. "Any absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 1."
The poll results were complied from responses of over 300 students during an eight-day window. And due to the voluntary nature of the survey, some distortion may occur in the results, according to Kathy Bissonette, coordinator of evaluation, assessment and planning for Student Affairs.
"You have to understand this is not a scientific survey," Bissonette said. "In general though, we a get a fair representation of the student body."
Bissonette emphasized that student feedback in the form of these online surveys helps the faculty better understand how to serve the university's population.
"We would be remiss if we didn't check with the student body to see how we were doing," said Bissonette.
Although students traditionally have a low voter turnout, UB students said they weren't surprised about the poll's results.
"I think that because students are aware of world events, it has given rise to a larger sense of civil responsibility," said Don Paradiso, a junior management major. "This is probably one of the most important elections of our generation. People are starting to realize their vote counts."
