It’s easy to forget life outside of the bubble. Our lives often become so wrapped up our small college community that we lose sight of the rest of the world, the rest of America and definitely the rest of Ohio. It’s not just school-work; we become so involved with issues such as Darfur, transgendered rights, Wal-Mart and veganism that we lose sight of the day to day American politics. But we cannot let this happen in this year’s crucial midterm election. We Oberlin students, committed to so many important causes, need to unite behind the Democratic senatorial and gubernatorial candidates, make sure that our votes are not suppressed and create an opposition to George W. Bush.

I fully appreciate that not all Oberlin students self-identify as progressives or liberals. This campus is more politically diverse than many may acknowledge. But right now, I am not addressing this school’s respectable right-wing contingent. If you lean Republican, stop reading right now. I am trying to make an important point to those of us who are, to whatever degree, left-leaning. We need to get together and help the Democrats win this year’s midterm elections.

If I had another thousand words, I would rant about how terrible the Republican control of Washington has been for the last five years. I would lament how they have appointed ultraconservative justices to the Supreme Court, how they have scaled back our civil rights, how they have gotten us into a disastrous war in the Middle East, how they have cut taxes for the richest Americans and put our country back into a terrible deficit. I could go on and on, but that’s not necessary. Most of us are familiar with this knowledge. But many of us are not aware of the specific importance of the election in Ohio — our state where a shift in 60,000 votes in 2004 would have sent Bush back to Texas. 

Ohio faces two important races next month. Bob Taft, our current governor, is not eligible to seek reelection, nor is J. Kenneth Blackwell, the current state Secretary of State. Blackwell is a staunch conservative on both economic and social issues, a true George W. Bush candidate. Running against him is Ted Strickland, a well-educated and progressive candidate who is currently leading in the polls 53 to 36 percent.

The race for the Senate is much closer. A recent poll put Republican incumbent Mark DeWine only two points behind Democratic challenger, Lorain County native Sherrod Brown. DeWine, who supported the Federal Marriage Amendment (a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages) and helped protect President Bush from investigation over his wiretapping project, holds one of the most vulnerable incumbent seats in the Senate. Removing DeWine from office can help to create a Democratic force in Congress that can keep President Bush in check his two remaining years in office.

It is not just the candidates or the issues that will make Obie votes crucial in this coming election. We also need to vote as a response to the nationwide campaign to disenfranchise voters, a campaign that directly affects Oberlin College voters. Empowered Republicans across the country are changing voting laws, requiring all voters to show photo ID and proof of residence. Ohio has been affected by these changes, with Ken Blackwell leading the way. This is not voter fraud, the implications are clear. This kind of legislation suppresses the votes of populations who are least likely to have this kind of strict identification: the poor, the elderly and students.

Unfortunately, it will be especially difficult for the poor and the elderly to overcome the stumbling blocks that the Republicans have put along their road to the polls. But for us college students, it won’t be as hard. We have the time and the means to work around the complications.

According to Deborah Slosberg, Oberlin’s Ohio PIRG campus organizer, all Oberlin students are eligible to vote in Ohio, though it will be difficult for many of us to do so. In order to vote, we need to register with our new addresses (unless we are living in the same dorms that we lived in last year). If we want to vote in the polls, we need an official document that shows our Ohio address. A bank statement or paycheck printed with an official address might do but procuring this could be complicated. Instead, what OPIRG is encouraging students to do is vote by absentee ballot. Requests for absentee ballots have already been put in each student’s OCMR. If we want to vote absentee, we need to fill these out. The last deadline for an application for an absentee ballot is Saturday, Nov. 4. When the absentee ballots come, we need to mail them in with enough time for them to arrive at the board of elections before Election Day, on Nov. 7. If we vote absentee, we will not have to show our proofs of address. We also will not have to wait in line for upwards of five hours, as many Oberlin students had to do in the last election, as Blackwell sought to hinder voting in areas unfriendly to Republicans.

Sounds complicated? It is. Voting will not be simple this year. The Republicans have ensured this and in doing so, they have improved their chances of winning in Lorain county. As Oberlin students, dedicated to social change and worthy progressive causes, we cannot allow our votes to be suppressed. It is critical that we elect Democrats this year. We need to cut through the red tape and make sure that our voices are heard on Nov. 7.