Hundreds of people turned out for the Declare Yourself Campaign on campus Thursday despite the bad weather.
The campaign, which was moved into the lobby of The Colvard Union, was part of a national effort to increase voter registration in the country.
“We had 130 students register to vote today at our event, which is a great success for Mississippi State,” said Jennifer Phillips, an organizer of the event.
Ginnie Monteith, a student volunteer working at the registration table, said the turnout was much more than they had expected.
The event also included mock voting machines, a live show spoken word artists and an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.
The mock voting machines posed three questions to each voter. Results were tallied at the end of the day.
Question No. 1 wanted to know whom the voter would choose to be the next president of the United States.
Out of the total 281 votes cast, George W. Bush was first with 107, followed by John Kerry with 54 and John Edwards with 43.
Question No. 2 dealt with what the voter believed was the most important issue facing the country today. Education won with 85 votes, followed by the economy with 79 votes. The third biggest concern was U.S. foreign policy with 31 votes.
Question No. 3 asked which question the voter would like to ask the presidential candidates of 2004.
Voters cast 257 votes, and 99 of them went wanted to know what the candidate would do to help ensure college was affordable for all young people.
Eighty-eight voters wanted to know what the candidate would do to help the job market for college graduates, and 70 voters were concerned with what each candidate would do to balance homeland security with personal freedoms.
Several students tuned into the live performances of the spoken word artists.
“The artists conveyed an important message about political issues, voter awareness and political power,” said Christian Kirk, a sophomore who watched the show.
Kirk added that they created a great vibe with the audience during the shows.
Steve Connell, one of the four performers, said the group had just started the tour not that long ago and were still learning and working with the act.
“With each school the show is getting stronger,” Connell said. “The performance at MSU was good.”
More than just students attended the rally. School children and several citizens stopped by The Union to catch a glimpse of an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Juan McCullum, vice president of the Student Association, said the SA had been afraid rain would hinder turnout, but there had been a steady line to view the document all day.
“Overall a lot of students came out to the event,” McCullum said.
“This has been an excellent experience for the campus of Mississippi State,” said Christy Vinson, who organized the event for State. “I hope it has helped encourage students to become more involved in the government.”