On April 14 and 15, a goat roamed the Bellevue College campus, attracting students and faculty to register to vote. The Vote Goat was brought on campus to promote voter registration by the Office of Student Legislative Affairs. The strategy was to attract curious students and encourage them to register.
Crowds of students surrounded the goat, petting and taking pictures with it. As they spoke to the organizers about the farm animal, students learned about the importance of being registered to vote.
“It is important for college students to be registered to vote because we live in a democracy where our votes make a difference and most college students do not realize the power they hold in this country,” Goat caretaker Kate Sugg said. Voting on city, county, state and federal policy allows a citizen’s voice to be heard in government. It gives Americans an influence on important issues that affect communities.
According to Sugg, “the goat was a huge success at Central Washington University last September and continues to attract many people to register.”
According to the VP of External Legislative Affairs Teague Crenshaw, the Vote Goat had a positive effect at BC.
“The Vote Goat got us 20 registrations in over six hours compared to the seven registrations from the last quarter by only using a table setup,” said Crenshaw.
“Most importantly, without registering to vote, you are unable to choose policies that can directly affect you so the aim was helping people be able to vote if they later choose to,” said Crenshaw.
“Just like everyone else I wanted to know what was going on with the goat and a ton of people were going to see it between classes,” said Running Start student Nanami Tsumura.
Although Tsumura’s age restricts her from registering, she said, “now I’m planning to register, so I guess the Vote Goat did work.”
The goat was a two day attraction at Bellevue College. Students were more inclined to stop by and register for voting.
According to Sugg, “It was wildly affective. Everyone wants to know what’s going on with the goat and a ton of people have come up to pet it and are now registered to vote.”