Office of Internal Communications
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September 17, 2004 A LETTER FROM PRESIDENT JAY GOGUE TO THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY It is my pleasure to support the Help America Vote Act by proclaiming September 19 – 26 Voter Registration Week at the University of Houston. Several University of Houston student groups have developed plans, in cooperation with the League of Women Voters, to assist our students, faculty, and staff in registering to vote. One measure of the strength of a democracy is the participation of its younger citizens. Estimates show as many as half of eligible UH upperclass students and more than 80 percent of our freshmen are not registered to vote. In the 2000 presidential election, about 60 percent of the 18-25 year olds registered, but only 42 percent voted. Here in Texas, that number was 37 percent. When asked why they don’t vote, many college students say they feel their votes do not make a difference. I would argue that every vote matters. Let me share with you some examples. Earlier this year, a game of chance determined the winner of a county commission seat in New Mexico after two candidates tied. A coin flip decided a three-way tie in a June primary runoff in Alabama. Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1916 by carrying one state by less than one vote per precinct. John Kennedy won the presidency in 1960 by one vote per precinct in Illinois. One vote brought Texas into the Union in 1845. In 1990, an election for the Republican nomination for an Illinois General Assembly district ended up before the Illinois Supreme Court because of something we have become familiar with: hanging or indented chads on punch ballots. After the recount and visual inspection, the race was decided by six votes. The election process is proof that more things unify us than divide us, and that unity threads through our history. We are united with the signers of the Declaration of Independence who voted with their signatures and sacred honors to establish our country, and we are united today with our military men and women who risk and give their lives so citizens of other countries can experience the freedoms we have and so that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms that make our nation the envy of the world. I encourage you to take this opportunity to register, if you have not done so. I also encourage you to vote. It is your right, guaranteed by the 19th Amendment, which was ratified 84 years ago last month. I can think of no better way to honor those women and men who fought and sacrificed so that all of us can participate in this fundamental right. Sincerely,
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