Election Central

Campus Conversations
Election Central

Predict the Election and Win Prizes

October 29, 2012

Think you have what it takes to predict the election? If so, then compete in this year's OXY Votes Electoral Map Competition.

The rules are simple, click on the image to the left to download your blank electoral map. Complete your map and turn it in to OSL by noon on Monday before the election. Then come to the Cooler on Tuesday to watch the results roll in. Once the election results have been finalized, the person who came closest to predicting the election will win.

Prizes up for grabs are 6 months of Hulu Plus or 6 months of Netflix streaming.

Questions? Email gerboc@oxy.edu.

Know your rights!

October 15, 2012

This election season, know your rights. This will help you make sure you make the most of your opportunity and have the best chance of getting your voice heard.

This image was taking from the National Council of La Raza's Mobilize to Vote campaign. Check out their website for lots of great information.

know your rights on election day

See what Oxy folks are thinking about the elections

October 3, 2012

Everyone has an opinion going into an election. Why not see what people are saying?

Given the advent of new technology in the world, we thought it would be good to give the whole campus a chance to participate in the conversation. Whether you are reading some resources on the OXY Votes website, attending one of the DebateWatch parties or discussing something in class, you can participate. Just tweet your thoughts with the #OXYvotes hashtag and they will show up below. Check back here to see what others are saying.

Tweets about "#OXYvotes"

OXY Votes: New Resources Added!

September 7, 2012

With information on voter registration, candidate positions, and the CA Propositions, OXY Votes now as a couple of new fact-checking sites for you to explore.

As you may have seen, over the summer, folks from the Office of Community Engagement and the Oxy Elements Leadership Program (part of OSL) have been working hard to pull together resources to help folks in the campus community prepare for election season. We know there are a lot of questions from students about registering to vote (Do I have to register in CA? What if I'm registered at home? How can I get an absentee ballot? etc.) We also hope that everyone will help educate themselves to make informed choices this November. No matter which way you lean politically, information is the key to making the right choice for you.

With that being said, you will notice various aspects of the site. We have tried to break things down and give brief explanations to make it easier to find what you need. Some sites are government...

Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up?

April 26, 2012

Hey! I’m back with another blog post after what has been four weeks straight from hell. And I mean that literally: I took the MCAT, wrote numerous papers, took tests, and started working on my application for medical school. So I apologize for my disappearance! These same four weeks have been a whirlwind on the domestic political scene. Since the last time I posted, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have both announced the suspension or their intentions to suspend their respective campaigns, leaving Ron Paul as the final but merely symbolic challenger to Mitt Romney. This was coupled with a rocking day for Romney as he swept all the states in Tuesday’s primaries, leaving him 66% of the way to achieving the 1,144 delegates needed to be the Republican nominee. He’s not completely bullet proof though and has been subject to quite a bit of flak, both from the right and the left. Here’s one... Read More

Introduction and Women's Health Care

March 12, 2012

Hey everyone! This is my first blog post and I’m excited to make the most of it with an introduction and jumpstart to Oxy Election Central, a collection of students passionate about politics and national issues who will be blogging regularly from now till election time. My name is Utsav Patwardhan and I’m a Junior Biochemistry major from Los Altos, CA. I think I have an interesting perspective on things due to my unique background: as a first generation American, I grew up in the Bay Area but moved to India during 8^th grade where I lived for 6 years before returning Stateside for college. Like most students here at Oxy, I’m pretty liberal. However, I’m proud to say that I’m tempered in my views as a social liberal, financial moderate, but foreign policy ‘center-rightist.’ I’m not sure where I want to take this blog, but as election season goes by I aim to follow and talk about what’s happening week by week and offer Oxy students my... Read More

It's never too early to think about the elections!

February 27, 2012

We know that Occidental College prides itself in being a politically active campus. Indeed, every year students participate in campaign semester, Politics and Diplomacy & World Affairs are popular majors, and many student clubs and organizations program around voter education and the elections. That is not to say, we can do better! This Spring semester, and throughout the Fall semester, we want to dedicate all of our energy possible to Voter Education and Elections at Oxy. The Oxy Elements Leadership Program, the Office of Student Life, the Office of Community Engagement, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Resident Advisors, and many, many more students, professors, and community members have been part of this process so far. We created this website to allow for students to express ideas, concerns, and questions on the elections. We also want to provide a place where all elections related events on campus are advertised, and... Read More

Infographic: Presidential Election 2012

February 27, 2012

Image credit: aljazeera.com

Al-Jazeera English has put the spotlight on the US presidential elections 2012. An entire in-depth program on their website! In addition to their interactive infographic, Al-Jazeera is featuring numerous interesting articles on a variety of topics: "Politics, Religion, and the Tea Party", "The 'other' political parties of the US", and "... Read More

Welcome to Oxy's Election Central

February 15, 2012

We decided it was time to start thinking about the 2012 Presidential election and all of the issues that go along with it.