Throughout this election season, both the Republican and Democratic parties have consistently called on young voters to help push their candidates across the finish line.
With just a few days until Nov. 5, WKAR's Melorie Begay spoke with Liam Richichi, the president of Michigan State University’s College Democrats, to learn more about their efforts to get their peers to vote.
Note: WKAR reached out to multiple College GOP clubs in Michigan to invite their perspectives but did not hear back.
Interview Highlights:
On working to get out the vote on campus:
"We have been doing so much on campus, working with campaigns, not only from the top, but also all the way down to the local races as well, because a lot of times people don't realize those, those lower-level state House, even congressional seats, are almost more important to the day-to-day lives of Michiganders."
On how the student democrats are getting their message out:
"Once we start engaging with folks in conversation about voting and where to vote, how to vote, we can kind of talk to them about who's running, the candidates, what issues are important to them. That's how we really kind of get that conversation started, is, what issues matter to you, whether that's protecting women's right to choose, or making college more affordable, life more affordable, common sense gun laws, those types of things."
Interview Transcription:
Melorie Begay: With the election being as close as it is, and Michigan being such a pivotal state, do you feel pressure to make a dent in the final results of the presidential election as the president of the Student Democrats?
Liam Rachichi: Oh, yeah. The pressure's definitely on. It's definitely, it's a little bit of a pressure chamber, but it's exciting, and I'm glad to be doing it.
Michigan, as many of you probably know, is one of the most competitive swing states in the nation, and it hinges on who is elected the seat of presidency. We have been doing so much on campus, working with campaigns, not only from the top, but also all the way down to the local races as well, because a lot of times people don't realize those, those lower-level state House, even congressional seats, are almost more important to the day-to-day lives of Michiganders. Because those local policies and those votes really make an impact on what you're doing, how you live your life, what you can and can't do, those kinds of things.
In terms of securing democracy and freedom for Michiganders, I think it's definitely something that I'm feeling the pressure of. But you know, we're working together, me and my E-Board and the MSU democrats, to really make sure that we're turning out the vote more so than any other election in history.
Begay: And how do you handle that kind of pressure because you're still a student, right? You have classes.
Rachichi: I live by the motto C's, get degrees. You can choose whether you want to put this in the segment or not, but, you know, I know education is very important, and I do quite value it, and I think it's really important, and that's why I've worked so hard. I am in the Honors College here, and I do hold myself to a high standard when it comes to my grades, but in doing so, I have allowed myself to let this, my senior year, my capstone year, to really dedicate my all. 80% of my time goes straight to the MSU Dems. I've convinced my board, thankfully, they're all great, I've convinced them to throw their lives into it as well, at least leading up to the election. The pressure is on, but the experiences, the connections and the times had during this election cycle are worth way more than anything else, in my opinion, right now. So am I attending class? Yeah? Am I maybe not giving 100% sometimes, yeah, but that's because, like Tim Walz is in East Lansing, I got I gotta go talk to the man.
Begay: MSU announced its largest enrollment ever this year, with more than 50,000 students on campus. Now, not all of them are eligible to vote in this election, but how big of an undertaking has it been to get your message across to as many students as possible?
Rachichi: Yeah, I mean, it's not been, I wouldn't say it's been difficult, just because we have such a large demographic to reach out to, there's been generally good reception.
We do have to be careful just kind of like how we're messaging ourselves, because sometimes, being outright capital D democrat can be a turn off for some people. A lot of the stuff that we're doing, for example, like voter registration on campus, I'm sure lots of you have seen us, I'm so sorry it’ll be over soon, we try to keep it as non-partisan as possible.
And then, you know, once we start engaging with folks in conversation about voting and where to vote, how to vote, we can kind of talk to them about who's running, the candidates, what issues are important to them. That's how we really kind of get that conversation started, is, what issues matter to you, whether that's protecting women's right to choose, or making college more affordable, life more affordable, common sense gun laws, those types of things.
So, reaching out to the undergraduate and the graduate population is not difficult, and we're very much in tune kind of with the locations, the timing, where to be, who to talk to, and we work with the university administration a lot to make sure that we're as accessible on campus as we possibly can be.
Begay: With there being such a strong focus on young voters. Are there any misconceptions about people in your generation that you think has been coming up in campaigns?
Rachichi: As with any club or organization, it really kind of depends on who's at the helm of it. In previous years, there have been times where the MSU democratic club is not as prevalent and strong in the community as it is currently.
Currently, we're working with the Ingham County Democratic Party, the Congressional District party, the MDP (Michigan Democratic Party), to kind of really state that, you know, we are college students. We are here. We have a voice. And for example, in Curtis Hertels district, who's running for the 7th Congressional District, where we are, this is quite literally the most competitive seat in America, this time around in 2024. And East Lansing is the most liberal part of his district, so we are quite literally the helm of his victory, if he is so to win, because he's only up about one to two points in the polls, considering on who you ask. So really, every single day that we're here on campus and everything that we do hinges on East Lansing, there's just so much at stake here, from top down on the ballot.
