Spring Break
Wheels on voting bus go round to educate students on candidates
Andy Blais
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Campus
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The project is providing a bus tour meant to give unbiased information to American citizens about candidates for positions from Congressmen to President. The bus hands out information and shows a movie about Project Vote Smart. They plan to tour the entire nation.
"We were coming through the area," said Jonathan Arnold, a staff member on board the bus. Arnold, who used Project Vote Smart extensively when working on his master's thesis, went to work for them after finishing graduate school.
Arnold said that there is a member in the area who put them in touch with URI professor Brian Krueger, who sponsored the event.
"This is by far the most people we've ever put on the bus," said Arnold about the bus' stop at URI. He also said that most university students will just pass by and take a pamphlet, but URI students seemed to be staying to hear the message.
Arnold and another staff member have been onboard the bus showing the movie since Oct. 2 when they started in Florida. Since then, they have hit states from Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, to Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
"A lot of people don't vote because they don't know what the candidates stand for," Arnold said.
The bus is not a "get out the vote" project, Arnold said. Although they can help show students how to vote, that is not their primary function.
The bus is a mobile movie theater, with a screen facing the back. Students sat in the 30-seat vehicle and watched a video explaining the project's purpose and mission.
"Our goal is to provide information ... the goal of our work is to educate people," Arnold said.
Arnold said the project is strictly non-biased. It is funded by American citizens and refuses any contribution by any interest group. It also does not allow a politician to join its funding board until he or she has been joined on the board by a political opponent.
The project is headquartered in Philipsburg, Montana on the Great Divide Ranch, where members conduct extensive research about political candidates. Arnold said they fact check numerous times so that their information can be in-depth, extensive and factual.
For Arnold, the trip has been an interesting one so far. Just last week, Project Vote Smart went to the Democratic Debate in Philadelphia. They saw numerous news trucks and many candidates, as well as Howard Dean and Chris Matthews.
Arnold and his partner also went to a small town in Georgia called Young Harris. "They were the fist town to say they'd host us," Arnold said.
"This bus is a full time job," Arnold said about the bus that has logged over 5,000 miles. He elaborated, saying that even on days off they continue to clean the bus and fill the gas tank, which can take up to an hour. But Arnold is now used to living on the bus, which is equipped with a shower, bathroom, microwave and refrigerator.
