POLL: Will you vote on Super Tuesday?

UCI project signs up dozens of new voters for the Feb. 5 primary.

IRVINE – The line often grew to five or six deep at the voter registration stand on a UC Irvine walkway as dozens of students took advantage of the last day Tuesday to qualify to vote in the Feb. 5 presidential primary.

"I've been in clubs – like the feminist club – and we hear over and over how voter turnout among young people is low and that we need to participate," said sophomore Rachel Behar, who'll be voting for the first time thanks to the registration stand having popped up on her campus route. "I'm really glad it's here or I wouldn't have had an opportunity to vote."

CALPIRG, a non-partisan public-interest group, was responsible for registration stands at University of California campuses throughout the state, as part of its New Voters Project to increase voter participation. At UCI, the group attracted plenty of students, who are threatening to beat back their stereotype of not showing up at the polls.

"With the big youth turnout in New Hampshire and Iowa, we feel that for the first time we have the ability to make a big impact," said Gabriel Gambit Ramos, a CALPIRG organizer at UCI. "A lot of students are paying attention now, and they're hearing that young people can make a difference."

New registrants had a range of favorite candidates; Behar was undecided between Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. But there were Barack Obama supporters with signs not far away, and it was particularly easy to find Obama fans among those signing up to vote.

"I don't like the way the country is going and I really like Obama," said Hana Bass, a sociology senior updating her voter registration information. "I usually don't get involved in politics, but I feel a lot more strongly about this election than past elections."