Voter apathy at UC Irvine is prominent among Jewish and non-Jewish students alike, according to representatives from ASUCI and AFI. ASUCI, which brings together academic, political, athletic and recreational interests of UCI students, told CampusJ that low voter turnout has been a problem at the university for years. Associated Students also asserted that they are working to register new voters through programs like the New Voters Project.
Emily Shaaya, Anteaters for Israel (AFI) co-president and ASUCI representative, stated that her experience has led her to believe Jewish students and non-Jewish students are equally active in politics. However, Shaaya suggested that AFI members are probably more likely to vote than students only involved in Hillel because AFI students have stronger political motivations and do not shy away from politics.
“AFI has developed coalitions with ASUCI and the New Voters Project. The New Voters Project is an organization at UCI that gets new students to register to vote. ASUCI is basically our student government. AFI’s affinity with these two organizations has allowed Jewish students and pro-Israel students to have a say in politics. Hillel is not in this coalition,� asserted Shaaya.
“AFI members are highly involved in politics. Many of our freshman members are part of the New Voters Project because of AFI’s relationship with the organization. However, my experience with ASUCI shows that roughly a good 60% of students are not involved in politics at all and are apathetic about politics in general. Apathy at UCI is not exclusive to the Jewish population.”
The general consensus is that Jewish students at UC Irvine appear to favor the Democratic candidates.
“I think there is that general view that if you are pro-Israel you are also a Republican. In reality many of our members in AFI are Democrats, perhaps even the majority,� said Karin Kahen, co-president of AFI.
Shaaya and Kahen did not feel comfortable with disclosing how they voted.
“Its important for us to deal with students on an individual bases and get students involved as objectively as possible. We want students to make up their own minds after seeing the liberal and conservative view points. Because of my personal work with ASUCI, I need to present a non-partisan political view,� Shaaya stated.
Shaaya and Kahen suggested that they predict that most Jewish students will vote for the Democratic candidates.
Hillel, the Jewish Student Union, does not formally urge students to vote and did not have any opinion on the matter of how Jewish students are likely to vote.
The College Republicans and Young Democrats told CampusJ that there are involved Jewish students in their respective clubs, but do not know how to estimate the quantity of those involved or their relative proportions to the general student population.