University of Virginia Library

Students Vote In Presidential Election

By Mike Russell
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Mock presidential voting,
which this year has reached a
National level, will be held at
the University on April 23 and
24 in "Choice '68," a national
presidential primary. Coordinated
by Alan Rudlin and advised by
Assistant Professor of Government
and Foreign Affairs Dennis
Ippolito, the student poll is being
run in about 1,000 colleges and
universities across the country.

Ballot boxes will be centrally
located and people will be on
hand to offer assistance. The ballots
are IBM cards, and to indicate
his choice the student must
punch a hole in the card, as the
results will then be tabulated by
a computer. All persons who are
students in any capacity will be
eligible to vote.

Thirteen Candidates

Thirteen men have been chosen
as presidential candidates: Fred
Halstead (Socialist Worker), Mark
O. Hatfield (Rep.), Lyndon B.
Johnson (Dem.), Robert F. Kennedy
(Dem.), Martin L. King
(Ind.), John V. Lindsay (Rep.),
Eugene J. McCarthy (Dem.).
Richard M. Nixon, Rep.), Charles
H. Percy (Rep.), Ronald W.
Reagan (Rep.), Nelson A. Rockefeller
(Rep.), Harold E. Stassen
(Rep.), and George C. Wallace
(American Independence). The
student's first choice will be for
election purposes and second and
third choice votes will be tabulated
for other purposes.

Sympathy Vote

Due to the recent withdrawal
of Johnson and the death of
Martin Luther King, it is hoped
that they will not be recognized
with first place votes. Sympathy
to their ideas and causes can be
signified by putting their names
down for second or third place.

Referendum topics will appear
on the ballots as well. These
topics are to indicate student
opinion on issues of national importance.
Choice '68 includes two
on the Vietnamese war and one
on a domestic issue.

Virginia schools participating
in the student primaries other
than the University are Hollins,
Sweet Briar, Mary Washington,
Richmond Polytechnic Institute,
and Old Dominion. The total
number of students expected to
be involved in this poll exceeds
five million.

Large Effect

"Choice '68" arose out of the
realization that student participation
in politics will have a substantial
effect on the outcome of
the election. The New York
Times cited the student activity
in Eugene McCarthy's New
Hampshire campaign as significant
not only because of the tremendous
effort these particular
students made, but as a reflection
of the increasing effect they have
on American politics.

In discussions concerning the
candidates to be offered and the
referendum topics to appear on
the ballot the Choice '68 Board
of Directors instituted several
policies. Students, in deciding for
which people to vote, would not
be bound by party lines. To avoid
the difficulties faced by the San
Francisco and Cambridge referenda,
the phrasing of the topic
was carefully and intensely debated
so the voter would have
clear alternatives to choose from.
This decision eliminates vagrancies
from polling and offers a
more precise reflection of student
opinion.

Reactions

Favorable reactions to the idea
of Choice '68 have been received
from Senators Robert Kennedy.
Edward Brooke, Charles H.
Percy, Eugene McCarthy, Joseph
Tydings, and former Vice-President
Richard Nixon. President
Johnson, in an interview with the
leaders of Choice '68, recognized
the significance of the poll when
he said that when student express
their opinions in a mature fashion,
people everywhere "stop,
look, listen, and evaluate."

Wishes Success

President Johnson's meeting
with the heads of the poll was
even more surprising in lieu of
the fact that student opinion is
expected to be anti-administration.
He ended the meeting by
wishing Choice '68 success.

Choice '68 is expected to reflect
the opinions of a body of
Americans that will in 1972 constitute
nearly half of the total
population. To say that the upcoming
balloting is insignificant
is contrary to the facts. Students
are urged to think seriously when
they fill the ballots out indicating
their choices.