In two weeks, students will flock to exotic destinations, leaving Madison just in time to miss city elections. But before students shed layers for warmer climates, local candidates are reminding them to ""Vote Naked"" with an absentee ballot.
With UW-Madison's spring break coinciding with Madison's general elections this year, many candidates are scrambling to combat a low student vote turnout.
The College Democrats started the Vote Naked online voting campaign to catch students' attention and encourage them to vote absentee the April 3 election.
According to the Electronic Media Chair of Vote Naked Adam Lang, Votenaked.org has been the major tool behind the campaign. Lang said the website explains absentee voting and helps students fill out the form to get an absentee ballot.
""Because the spring election is scheduled for spring break, campus turnout on election day will probably be very low, lower than in a normal spring election,"" Lang said, adding that he hopes Vote Naked will help promote absentee ballots.
Lauren Woods, a UW-Madison senior and District 8 alder candidate, said she strongly supports the initiative. She said it is a great way to get people excited about voting.
""The idea of Vote Naked is that it sounds enticing because you have this very unique and creative way to engage people,"" Woods said. ""It sparks curiosity.""
Woods said she has noticed many people talking about Vote Naked and believes it will have an impact on the voter turnout in the upcoming elections. Woods also expects to see a push for Vote Naked and many other get-out-and-vote campaigns in these final weeks before Election Day.
UW-Madison sophomore Eli Judge is also running for District 8 alder this year and said the strategy put forth by the College Democrats to create Vote Naked is excellent.
""I think it's a wonderful idea, I definitely support everything that Vote Naked stands for because I am a big fan of democracy and I think Vote Naked is taking a great step,"" Judge said.
While campaigning door-to-door, Judge said most of the people he talked to signed up for an absentee ballot because of Vote Naked. ""The fact that students are taking the initiative to do that is because of such a wonderful, visible campaign,"" Judge said.
Many UW-Madison students have expressed frustration with the timing of the election. Genesis Lewis, a UW-Madison freshman, said she is upset with the scheduling conflict. She said she thinks it is unlikely absentee voting will make a huge difference come April.
""I think it's a bad idea to have the election during spring break, but if they make absentee ballots really accessible it could work,"" Lewis said.
If a student was registered in Madison during the fall '06 election, they are eligible to apply for a ballot on votenaked.org. On the website, students can fill out an application and then will be sent an absentee ballot in the mail.
Students who are not registered to vote in Madison can go to the City Clerk's Office and fill out an application to obtain a ballot. The city mails the student a ballot and the student can fill it out at home and either mail it in or drop it off.
