Nearly 2,700 people have been registered to vote by the ISU Democrats and the College Republicans.

The ISU Democrats ended their 1996 Voter Registration Drive Friday with the appearance of Sen. Tom Harkin at Pizza Kitchens restaurant. The Democrats registered 2,365 voters, said the president of the ISU Democrats, Dean Fiihr.

“As far as I know, that’s the best we’ve ever done at Iowa State,” Fiihr said. In 1992, the group registered about 2,000 students.

The Democrats registered their first voter on Aug. 27, the second day of classes and ended their effort on Friday, Oct. 25. The last day to register to vote in Iowa was Oct. 26.

About three times a week, the Democrats set up booths around campus that registered voters, and also gave students information about Democratic candidates. “Our other goal was kind of to introduce our county candidates,” Fiihr said. The group also wanted to inform students of the party’s beliefs.

The Democrats set up most of their booths outside Parks Library. Throughout the drive, they also had booths at the Memorial Union, the Hub, Ross Hall, the Design Center and Kildee Hall.

Students could also request absentee ballots at the booths, Fiihr said. Nearly 75 absentee ballots were requested. Students could request ballots from Story County and from their home county. If someone wanted to ask the auditor in their home county for an absentee ballot, the Democrats filed it, Fiihr said.

The ISU Democratic effort was all volunteer. In the past, a county staffer coordinated voter registration, but this year the group circulated information via a phone bank and e-mail to find volunteers. At other state universities, the staffer was used again this year.

“We’re proud of that, too,” Fiihr said.

Of the registrations collected, Fiihr said more people registered for no party affiliation rather than for either the Republican or Democratic parties.

The College Republicans looked at voter registration in a different way. The group also used tables, but they focused on increasing membership, giving out general information and registering voters. “We didn’t focus on one little thing,” said Chad Schmitz, president of the College Republicans.

Through the booths, the group generated a list of names and then attempted to reach out to individuals, Schmitz said. The group asked list members to personally register as many people as they could. They reached out to friends and members of their residence hall floors and greek houses. “I would say a rough estimate [of voters registered] would be about 400 some,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz said the booths helped the Republicans more than double their members to over 250 people.