Officials monitor solicitors

   Campus officials and student leaders are working on new ways to deal with aggressive petitioners who make their way on campus and attempt to register students to vote without consent.

   As many as 16 solicitors have been counted in the quad between the library and the Fine Arts Building at one time, each asking students to sign a petition. Issues addressed in the petitions range from saving local parks and beaches to pediatric cancer research.

   "It's annoying and it's inconvenient because I don't have time to stop and talk, and if I do I have to explain to the rest of them that I've already talked to one guy way on the other end of the quad," Amanda Gomez, a SAC student, said.

   Once a solicitor asks to have a petition signed, they fill out a voter registration card for the student and ask them to sign it.

   One student was told that although she was registered she needed to re-register to verify that the information she provided was accurate.

   "Students trust who we're letting on campus and ASG has a responsibility to ensure that students aren't being misled. We have to inform students of their rights and let them know when these petitioners are crossing the line," Associated Student Government President Alex Flores said.

   Many students have signed petitions and cards without reading the fine print — not checking what political party they've been registered into or what cause the petition is supporting.

   "They have a legal right to be here under freedom of speech laws, but I'm concerned about them disrupting and misrepresenting themselves to students. Students also have to be aware. You wouldn't sign a blank check — if you sign something you haven't read all the way through — be prepared. Students have to accept a certain amount of responsibility in this also," Sarah Lundquist, vice president of student services, said. Administrators are reviewing the conditions under which solicitors are allowed onto campus.

   Plans are under way to educate students on their responsibilities and legal rights.

   Some officials want to require that petitioners be made aware of voter laws and etiquette before gaining access to campus.

   ASG has suggested that since petitioners are paid for every signature and registration card they gather, that they should be registered as vendors rather than solicitors, requiring them to pay a $250 fee for every day they are on campus.

   That money goes directly to campus facilities and is then distributed to school-sanctioned clubs.

   "We are a public institution and are held to the highest standards in terms of freedom of speech. We have to allow these people on campus and charging them a fee would infringe on their right to speak freely," Lundquist said.

   For now, both ASG and the SAC administration are embarking on campaigns to educate students on voter rights and ways to register through a third party. A registration drive is in the works for later this semester, officials said.