Last Tuesday, Feb. 5 was Super Tuesday, in which many states, including Missouri, held nominating primaries for both the Democratic and the Republican Party. On Jan. 28, we urged students to participate by voting for their candidate of choice (“Vote in the presidential primaries on Feb. 5″). We would like to express our satisfaction with not only the important turnout of student voters but also with the extraordinary work of Student Union and the university administration.

Voting is, of course, always important in a democracy, and on Feb. 5, its importance was never more evident. In both the Democratic and Republican primaries in Missouri, the races were extraordinarily tight. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won by receiving only 10,000 votes more than Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, and Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain of Arizona was victorious by only 8,700 votes over Republican presidential candidate former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Our exit polling on Super Tuesday found that 80 percent of students voting in the Democratic primary cast their ballots for Obama, and 60 percent of students voting in the Republican primary voted for John McCain. With such slim margins of victory for both candidates, the participation of Wash. U. students certainly played a crucial role in the election. We commend the student body for actively participating in this extremely important election.

We also recognize and commend the efforts of both Student Union and the University administration in facilitating that participation. In the midterm elections of 2006, students faced significant problems at the polls. Hundreds of students were unaware of their correct polling place, and despite encouraging students to vote, the administration did too little too late in helping students to do so. After this unacceptable situation, we urged the university administration to do more to aid students in the 2008 election (“University failed students in 2006 voting” Nov. 8, 2006).

We were pleased to see that most of the problems facing student voters were alleviated on Super Tuesday. The new polling station on the South 40 that the administration, along with several student groups, worked hard to make happen was a great solution to the issue of confusing polling locations. Its ease and convenience made voting much more accessible to students and contributed to the high turnout among student voters. Furthermore, Student Union provided a great service in funding shuttles from Mallinckrodt to nearby polling stations. Many students utilized the service, and great relief was provided to students who would otherwise have had trouble getting to local polling stations.

This election has provoked record-breaking turnout in states across the nation, and in Missouri especially, younger voters played an important role. The Center for Information and Research on Civil Learning and Engagement estimated that the voter turnout rate among Missouri citizens eligible to vote was 21 percent on Super Tuesday, triple the turnout in 2000. We hope that this trend will continue in the general election in November of this year and in the elections to come in the future. We also hope that the University administration and Student Union will continue to facilitate the exercising of one of our most important rights in the general election and thereafter. In doing so, the University is truly accomplishing its mission to help its students impact the nation and the world.

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