Encouraging the ISU student body to vote in local elections is by no means a bad thing. Giving these students incorrect or misinformed reasons for voting, however, is extremely wrong.

As a sizable (and largely inactive) portion of the voting public, Iowa State’s student body is an appealing target for local candidates in search of the scant votes that will earn them a City Council seat. Two of the issues in which city council members have a lot influence on are the Kingland plans to expand Campustown and the city rental codes which threaten greek housing.

To students, these are both particularly important issues that directly influence their everyday lives. Whether as a member of the greek community or just someone who frequents Cafe Baudelaire, nearly every student has a horse in this race.

As a result, it is important to candidates that they get their stances regarding these issues out to the student body. However, there has been recent speculation that a third party with invested interests in one of the candidates is wrongfully portraying information to voters, especially in greek communities.

Greek students have said that they have been swayed to fill out absentee ballots, having been told that certain candidates (namely, Anne Kinzel, Victoria Szopinski and Gloria Betcher) will tear down or otherwise destroy the greek housing system if they are elected.

If new council members hold greek houses to rental code standards, then they may not be able to survive as a part of the Iowa State off-campus community. Not only does this prevent other candidates from being heard, it is also an incorrect portrayal of these candidates’ stances. Szopinski was forced to go to great efforts to correct this misinformation after hearing of it through a parent of a greek student.

These tactics have already had substantial impact; absentee ballots from the 4-1 precinct are currently tallied at 95 – a full third of absentee ballots for the entire city of Ames.

Whether this misinformation is a result of a candidate’s or third party’s actions, the method is dishonest. Though not blatantly illegal, it is unfair to both voters and candidates for incorrect information to be spread. Again, there is nothing wrong with encouraging normally inactive voters to head to the polls, but targeting a specific group using misinformation and scare tactics is the wrong way to go about it.

If these speculations of dishonesty have taught us anything, it is that students need to be more politically active and aware when it comes to local elections. If greek students had a habit of being politically active in past years, they most likely would not have been singled out for misinformed absentee balloting.

Additionally, if students were aware of candidates’ platforms, they would not be so easily tricked into thinking that Kinzel or Szopinski plan on tearing down their homes. If there is one thing that all candidates can agree on, it is that support from the student body is ultimately beneficial. Instead of using underhanded deceits to get students to vote, City Council (and all local government) candidates should seek out students as part of their campaign, willfully educating them on their platforms.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by the rumored wrongful information cannot be reversed. Students who filled out absentee ballots under the assumption that their homes were being threatened cannot undo those actions.

However, the remaining student body can work to improve campus awareness of local politics and the platforms of our candidates. The election, which takes place Nov. 5, is drawing near. Regardless, there is plenty of time for students as-of-yet unaffected by misinformation to inform themselves and get to the polls.

However shameful or unfortunate the dishonest tactics of third parties, students still have the ability to put the best person in those City Council seats.