Despite a months-long campaign by the SGA to register a wide contingent of students to vote in time for the Sept. 12 primaries, the efforts appear to have fallen flat, according to Prince George’s County Board of Elections statistics.

For years, students have made up a paltry voting bloc in comparison to regular area voters, exerting little, if any influence over hotly contested Democratic primaries that have elected lawmakers to influential legislative seats holding sway over state higher education issues. Student Government Association president Emma Simson vowed to change that this year in her inaugural address, saying: “I pledge to mobilize over a thousand students for this fall’s elections.”

According to numbers provided by county election board officials, voters registered in time to vote in the primary on-campus at the Stamp Student Union precinct increased by just 35 since Simson’s election in April, with 730 identified as active Democratic voters eligible to vote in the primary.

Primaries, which are limited to voters registered with a political party, are crucial contests in heavily Democratic Prince George’s County, because Democratic candidates usually win by landslides. In 2002, state Sen. John Giannetti, who represents the district where College Park is located, squeaked out a victory over incumbent Sen. Arthur Gorman by about 200 votes in the primary, then ran in the general election unopposed.

This year, District 21, which includes Beltsville and Laurel, features two tight races. Former regent Jim Rosapepe looks to unseat Giannetti, and nine candidates have declared candidacies for an open seat in the Maryland House of Delegates. A student voting bloc could make the difference in some of the closer races, several candidates acknowledged.

On the campus, 1,762 voters are eligible to vote in the general election.

“The last election was decided by only 200 votes, so 1,700 sounds like a landslide,” said Giannetti campaign manager David Singer.

The campus’ neighboring polling place, which recently moved to Ritchie Coliseum and represents most of the downtown area where many students live, saw a slight increase in registered voters as well. By July 31, 59 voters were added to the just more than 2,200 voters registered downtown.

The influence of students on local elections remains unclear, however, and little will be known about student influence on local elections until the primary. If history is any guide, some candidates may not view the campus as important to a win, considering less than 10 voters participated in the 2002 primary.

“I think there are a lot of people on the rolls who aren’t here anymore,” said city Councilman Eric Olson, who is running for the District 3 seat on the Prince George’s County Council. Olson and other candidates said despite the questionable electoral strength of student voters, they are courting university support.

“We have a very strong student organization. We’re definitely reaching out to students,” senatorial candidate Rosapepe said.

A significant number of students Simson and the SGA tried to help register earlier this summer refused to register in College Park because they intended to vote in their home district, Simson said.

“What we’re going to do this coming fall is show students the importance of registering to vote where they live,” Simson said.

Graduate student Billy Grayson leads the non-partisan university chapter of Maryland Votes, which is leading an effort to register students statewide; he said students should be motivated to vote locally because of the influence state leaders have over higher education issues.

“These people are spending nine months a year, four years of their life in the campus community and the local officials are the ones who have authority over how much they pay for tuition and other important issues,” said Grayson, who is also Olson’s campaign manager.

Grayson and Simson spent much of the summer canvassing student apartment complexes in and around the campus to get people to register to vote. That one-on-one interaction appears to be the best way to get young people between the ages of 18 and 29 to register, said Mark Lopez, a public policy professor and Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement Circle director.

“We’ve found among young people the most effective way is face-to-face canvassing – not phone calls, not letters,” Lopez said.

The number of voters registered in August will not be known until later this week. Aug. 22 was the last day to register for the primaries in Maryland, though voters registered after that date will be able to vote in the general election in November.

Contact reporter Alan J. McCombs at mccombsdbk@gmail.com.