There was so little student activity for this city election that at the polling center Union Drive Community Center, the polling administrators had to periodically walk around to keep the motion-activated lights from shutting off.

“We never have very many out here,” said Lawrence Lyons, an administrator for that precinct.

An hour before polls closed at Maple-Willow-Larch, the location had only eight voters.

And at Frederiksen Court, there were students who didn’t even know what the election was for.

“This is what happens when you get a low-profile local election in a college town,” said Brian Phillips, president of the Government of the Student Body and senior in political science. “The thing is, all across the city we’ve had less than 10 percent of voters vote. It’s not a good thing, but it’s not isolated only to the student community.”

Ames Mayor Ann Campbell said there are some extraneous factors that could account for the numbers.

“The fact that 2nd ward is an uncontested seat is a factor for low numbers. However, results like this are probably not atypical. They’re disappointing, but not atypical. I’m not sure you can read into it too much. It’s just low numbers,” she said.

This isn’t the first instance of extremely low turnout. For the last City Council election, in 2005, a total of 404 people between the ages of 18 and 24 voted. In the election before that, in 2003, only 208 people in that age group voted.

“One statistic I know is that there is a huge number of people that are 18 years old that vote, and then that number declines incredibly rapidly,” Phillips said. “People like to cast their first vote at 18, but then they either get too busy, or they just don’t feel that it’s important enough and skip out on the next couple of elections.”

These numbers could be a symptom of another problem that has been on and off again in the community – the divide between students and the government of Ames.

Government members and student representatives both say, however, the relationship between the two entities is doing fine.

“It’s been five years since the inception of my liaison position and I think it’s really starting to solidify and establish the necessity of good student, campus and city relationships,” said Maggie Luttrell, ex-officio City Council liaison and junior in history.

In addition to Luttrell’s work, Ames also has a Student Affairs Commission that regularly reviews city issues and makes recommendations on action to the city council.

“I think what’s unprecedented is that some cities have a student representative, and some have a commission, but our council has done both,” said Ames City Manager Steve Schainker. “It formalizes input from students that live in our community. That’s a major, major commitment, I think. It shows that the City Council is very serious about that.”

Phillips said our student liaison system is a model other student communities are building on.

“At UNI, they just adopted a position like this, and we helped them,” he said.

Phillips said Luttrell can talk with the council on any issue the council discusses.

“It’s useful, because there are a lot of issues that, on their face, may not seem like they’re related to students at all. But they can have a huge impact on students. It’s helpful to have that kind of freedom,” he said.

Campbell said reaching students is a bigger challenge than most realize.

“My last City Council election I was over on campus in the Union with a big sign up and coffee out for students to visit, and nobody came. I think that you can do a lot to get to students, but it takes a lot in seeking out people who are interested,” she said.

Campbell said the key question that needs to be asked is whether the issues that are dealt with by the city government are students’ concerns.”

“The students’ job here, for four or five years or however long, is to get an education and be trained in a specific kind of field. Also, the government, like it or not, does tend to coast along until there’s something that hits each of us as an individual,” she said.

So it seems students are not using the opportunity given to every citizen to change their government. There are many reasons why – some may be voting in their hometown; some may not see any important issues for this election.

“Also, this isn’t a national election, and it makes it more difficult to get involved. This isn’t a local problem, as far as I know. I think there is a significant population that just won’t vote, which is disappointing,” Phillips said.

Campbell said many students have stronger ties to their hometown, which may cause them to register elsewhere.

“If you grow up for the first 18 years of your life in Altoona, and then you come here, I think there’s a good chance that there will be absentee voting for a town where students know the players and issues.”

So it begs to be asked how the city plans to get students out to vote.

“The state, this past year, passed a bill that allows, for the next election, people to be able to register to vote on the same day as the election,” Phillips said.

“If students are interested in what’s going on in their community, and making a change for the better, then they should go to the meetings and express their views.”