A student activist group that planned to register 1,000 new voters for the upcoming local elections came up shy of its goal but did manage to register more than 500 students.

The final deadline to register for the Nov. 8 elections expired Friday evening.

ActivUs President Mara Spooner, senior in anthropology, said the group’s efforts resulted in around 550 new registrations, most of which were completed during the last two days before the deadline.

“We just spent all day on campus making sure people were registered to vote locally,” Spooner said of Thursday and Friday.

Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman said she was surprised when ActivUs brought in more than 400 new registrations to the auditor’s office Friday evening.

“We didn’t expect that type of drop-off just before the deadline,” Mosiman said. “But every single one of the registrations got entered into the database.”

Henry Alliger, ActivUs member, said although the group didn’t reach its initial goal, he was proud of the group members’ efforts.

“I think it was great that we were able to register as many people as we did,” said Alliger, senior in animal science.

He said ActivUs underestimated the number of students who registered to vote in Story County last year for the national election, which played a role in keeping the group from reaching its goal.

“A lot of people already registered last fall and didn’t need to register again,” Alliger said. “Just the volume of people who didn’t need to register factored in.”

Although the deadline to register for the Nov. 8 election has come and gone, Spooner said ActivUs will continue its efforts to make sure students vote locally.

“We’re going to do a lot to keep students informed about the election,” she said. “We’re going to present maps and fliers to students to let them know when and where they can vote.”

She said ActivUs members will hold a tailgate party before Saturday’s home football game to distribute information about the candidates and voting locations.