The registration process to vote in the Nov. 4 election comes to an end today, and more than 1,000 students have signed up to vote in Coles County.

Eric Wilber, student executive vice president, said Eastern has done everything in its power to get the message out to the students.

“As far as letting people know about this, it has been posted on the Web site, e-mails have gone out to all students, we have had tables set up in high traffic areas and events across campus since school began, and The DEN has given quite a bit of coverage about them as well,” he said.

Multiple registration drives have taken place on campus all semester.

“As of (Friday), 1,141 students have been registered to vote under our umbrella,” Wilber said. “This includes Student Government, Student Action Team, College Democrats, NAACP, BSU and Delta Sigma Theta.”

Jantelle Horton, the director of service affairs for NAACP, said several hundred students have registered through Eastern’s NAACP drive.

“We co-partnered with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Black Student Union, and we all partnered up and had a five-day registration drive,” she said. Horton said 450 students registered during the drive.

Horton believes it is important for black students to vote as they are a major part of the voting process, and they should take advantage of it since they have the opportunity to do so.

“I’ll just say that blacks certainly have encountered a lot in the past for us to have the opportunity to take the advantage of voting, and because of that, it does not matter who they vote for,” she said.

“Either (John) McCain, (Barack) Obama or whoever. As long as they take a part of the voting process, that’s the only thing that matters.

“We want them to take a part of that process, because of what black people had to encounter in the past for us to have the opportunity.”

Wilber said if students still need to register, forms are available in the Student Activity Center, located on the second floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union across from Copy Express.

If students wish, they may also visit the Student Government Web site and print out a form, which has to be turned in today.

Wilber said Eastern won’t stop there, as it will move into a voter information campaign once the voter registration deadline passes.

“This will include ‘Riesen’s to Vote,’ in which we will be giving out Riesen candy with a reason why you should vote attached to it,” he said.

There will also be a debate between the EIU College Democrats and the College Republicans at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Grand Ballroom of the Union, Wilber added.

Michael Schwader can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].