Today is the last day citizens of the state of Oregon can register to vote to be eligible to vote in the upcoming election on November 6. As a result, today was also the final push by student organizations to encourage their peers to participate in this election cycle.

Part of this movement was a visit from Sen. Ron Wyden, who represents Oregon in the United States Senate. Over the course of the afternoon, Wyden met with members of student government, spoke to a class and discussed political issues with students.

The visit was organized in large part by the Oregon Student Association, a non-profit organization encouraging college student political engagement and advocacy. Associated Students of OSU, the student government at OSU, was also involved with the visit, greeting Wyden and accompanying him around campus.

Wyden first arrived in the MU quad to meet some of the members of the ASOSU. There, the Senator and the students discussed voter registration efforts on college campuses and the importance of voting, especially for young people.

“I think young people and millennials are really being forgotten in much of what is going on in Washington DC,” Wyden said.

From there, the Senator and his entourage made their way to Cordley Hall, where he spoke to a class about the importance of voting and issues such as healthcare, a woman’s right to choice, voter discrimination and student loans, all of which he stressed as critical issues that students should weigh in on.

As the Senator spoke, ASOSU workers distributed voter registration forms to the students in attendance and gathered the completed forms.

Moving forward, the ASOSU team and Senator Wyden hope to see continued increase in voter turnout among college students.