Category: Mason Votes

Meet U. S. Sen. Bernie Sanders | Oct. 28th GMU Student Town Hall

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will be hosting a National Student Town Hall meeting with George Mason University students. The town hall meeting will be live streamed online to be viewed on college campuses across the country.

Sanders will focus on issues affecting young people, such as tuition-free higher education at public colleges, climate change, women’s rights, money in politics, racial justice, and criminal justice system reform.

The National Student Town Hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 28th at the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC) on the George Mason University Fairfax Campus. Doors open at 6:00pm, and the meeting will begin at 7:00pm.

Tickets are required to attend, and will be distributed at the George Mason University Center for the Arts Concert Hall on two occasions:

Monday, October 26th | 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Tuesday, October 27th | 3:00pm – 6:00pm

The Bernie Sanders campaign team is seeking volunteers to help with ticket collection, crowd management, and answering questions. If you are interested in volunteering or have any questions, contact Tyler at [email protected].

Fairfax County-3 Easy Ways to Check Voter Status

Fairfax County voters now have three easy ways to check voter registration status, poll location and other vital information before heading out to vote in the June 11 primary. To access your specific voter information, you will need to enter your Social Security Number or Voter ID Number (on your voter registration card).

1. Call the Fairfax County Office of Elections at 703-222-0776 (TTY 711). This 24/7 phone system enables you to confirm your voter registration status, your poll location and get answers to the 10 most frequently asked questions – when it is convenient for you. If you would like to talk to someone in the Office of Elections, call Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended hours on Thursday until 7 p.m.

2. Download the Free Fairfax County Mobile App. Find the free app on the county’s mobile page or by searching Fairfax County Government on Google Play or the Apple App Store. Once you download and launch the Fairfax County app, look for the vote icon. Using the app, you will be able to find your poll location and driving directions to get there, check that you are registered at your correct address and link to the Office of Election’s website for easy access to other vital information.

3. Visit the Virginia State Board of Elections Website for voter registration status, ballot information, poll location, ID requirements and more.

For more information online, visit the Fairfax County Office of Elections.

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Virginia Primary Election Day June 11, 2013

All 237 polls in Fairfax County are open Tuesday, June 11, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., for the Democratic Primary. The primary is open to all registered voters. The ballot includes Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general and, in the 86th District, for a member of the House of Delegates. The Republican candidates were chosen at a state convention held in Richmond last month.

Fairfax County Public Schools are still in session. If your poll is at a school location, please be cautious when driving in that area, especially in the morning and afternoon when buses are unloading or loading and the students are walking or being dropped off.

Make sure you are ready to vote by taking these steps:

Bring a Form of ID to Poll: List from the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Make Sure You Know Your Polling Place: There are three easy ways to check your poll location and other important information.

Review Your Sample Ballot.

Unofficial election results will be available from the Office of Elections. Unofficial returns are updated throughout the night as the precincts report in after the polls close at 7 p.m. Only Fairfax County returns are available on this website. Statewide returns will be available from the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Student Gov’t 2012 Exit Polling Results

The GMU Student Government conducted exit polling on Election Day, November 6, 2012, at George Mason University’s University Hall polling place (precinct 134). 263 voters were surveyed with approximately 1 in 5 voters being asked to take part in the survey and 116 people refusing to answer. Here are the results:

For a copy of the survey as a pdf file click here. The actual result of the polling place as reported by the Virginia State Board of Elections were as follows.

President Barack Obama: RE-ELECTED

Photo by | Dakota Cunningham C2M

Shortly into the eleven o’clock hour on November 6 all the major networks began to call the race. “President Barack Obama has been re-elected and will return to the White House for four more years” one news reporter said.

The President received 50 percent of the national vote to Governor Romney’s 48 percent. When it came to the Electoral College the President received well over the 270 needed to win. He scored 303 to Governor Romney’s 206. Important to note is the state of Florida has not yet been called. There is a possibility the President will ultimately win their as well.

As American’s wake up this morning it would appear as nothing is different. The President is still Barack Obama, the House of Representatives is still controlled by the Republicans, and the Senate is still in Democratic control. This reality raises one major question in which we will receive the answer to in the coming months. That question is where do we go from here?

With a divided government over the last two years congress has seen its approval rating slip to as low as 8 percent. The word and idea compromise has become dirty. What will make these next four years any different? Regardless of who won the White House this question would still have been asked. Maybe now after the dust has finally settled Congress, the Senate, and the President will make real strides to work in a bi-partisan manner, and restore the faith in a government that as Lincoln described as “of the people, for the people, by the people”.

Mitt Romney Makes Closing Arguments at Mason

On Monday, November 5, Republican Presidential Candidate made his first and only campaign stop at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus. His event was held at the Patriot Center, where he spoke to an estimated 8,000 supporters with many more who were turned away. Governor Romney spoke about the failures as he saw them from the Obama administration on a whole host of issues. He also shared with his supporters and those who may still be undecided what his vision for the next four years.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVRHazh-F2Q[/youtube]

See Mitt Romney’s full remarks here:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnD8YkCR1P8[/youtube]

Mitt Romney to Campaign at Mason on Monday

UPDATED

Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney will make his first appearance this election cycle at George Mason University on Monday, November 5.

Romney’s stop in Northern Virginia reinforces just how close the race for Virginia’s 13 Electoral College votes is. Romney is set to speak at the Patriot Center at 2:45 p.m. with doors opening at 12:45 p.m.

President Obama also spoke at the RAC where he was greeted by 9,000 supporters. The Romney campaign hopes to convince voters in the Northern Virginia area suburbs that his plan for the economy will help put America back on the right track.

For ticket information please visit: http://www.mittromney.com/events/fairfax-victory-rally-w-mitt-gop-team

The Impact of Political Advertising

Photo by | Dakota Cunningham C2M

As Election Day approaches, the 2012 presidential campaign is in full swing. For months, citizens of the battleground state of Virginia have endured countless advertisements funded by the Obama and Romney campaigns. According to the Washington Post, more than $262 million has been spent on ad support for the president, compared to $282 million in support of the Republican nominee. The two parties have spent more than $96 million on Virginia alone. Only Florida has a higher total at $104 million.

The D.C. Metro area has seen or heard more than 24,000 ads, accounting for $44 million of the spending, since mid-April 2012. Each advertisement has the same goal: Form a likeable image of its candidate.

Thom Mozloom, the founder and president of The M Network, an advertising agency based in Miami, joined students participating from the George Mason University Video Studio along with Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and students from the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, and Purdue University for an episode of “The Washington Classroom.” Mozloom said, “The brand is the emotional connection a target audience has with a particular candidate, a campaign has to build that connection typically over time, getting the viewer emotionally involved with a candidate.”

Most ads on the air today last only about 30 seconds. “The idea is to connect with the least amount of words and the most amount of emotional impact,” Mozloom said, “something that everybody is going to agree with and have that emotional ‘yes’ to.” While the goal of ads is to create a brand, some viewers, such as Lauren Dean, a Mason alumna with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, choose to ignore the message. “Honestly, I’ve stopped listening to the messages,” said Dean, a 27-year-old resident of Alexandria. “All they do is say negative comments about the opponent instead of telling me their own views or plan.”

Others, such as Kevin McLain, a senior at Mason studying government and international politics, believe the message of campaign ads are not targeted to each individual voter. “As a partisan, I’m not very much affected by political ads,” said McLain, a 20-year old from Manassas. “When I see a political ad, I’m looking at who is targeted, what is the point and what it’s trying to make me feel.” Some advertisement viewers might wonder whose vote is being changed by ads. “Perhaps the ads influence those people who listen to the ad and believe it word for word,” Dean said. “Or maybe they’re intended for those who make their decision based on the negatives of a candidate.”

“I think the people who change which party they vote for every election are the ones who are affected,” McLain said. “A person who is not as politically savvy as someone who studies politics is probably more easily swayed.”

The latest Gallup poll of likely voters from Oct. 28, Hurricane Sandy suspended Gallup poll tracking on Oct. 29, showed Romney with a slight 5-point lead over Obama, making the presidential race a 51-to-46 percent dead heat.

The distance-learning course, which is produced by C-SPAN, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via video conference. The course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5 p.m. and also streams online (http://www.c-span.org/Washington-Classroom/).

1-on-1 with Mason Votes: Colonel Chris Perkins

Mason Votes went 1-on-1 with Colonel Chris Perkins the Republican candidate for Virginia’s 11th congressional district. His opponent is Congressman Gerry Connolly.

Colonel Perkins spoke at length about the importance of this year’s election and shared his opinions opinions about how to best address the major challenges facing America.

To learn more about Colonel Perkins you can check out his campaign website here: http://www.perkins2012.com/

Here is our interview:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-PlvtYB3lA&feature=g-all-u[/youtube]