Although noon today is the deadline for registering for the March primaries, an SIUC organization will still try to educate students and get students involved in November’s election, a leader of the organization says.

Enoch X, founder of the Carbondale chapter of Black Think Tank, said the Black Think Tank is an SIUC registered student organization that helps to raise awareness of African American issues.

He said the organization, in coordination with other registered student organizations, plans to sponsor a massive voter-registration drive in upcoming months to register people for the November general election. He said the plans have not been finalized, but ideas to work in the community registering voters for the election are being discussed.

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X said he wants to register people to vote because they must have knowledge about their rights and freedoms in order to make educated decisions concerning which candidates serve their community’s needs.

X said the upcoming presidential election is very important because it is the last election of this century. He said it is vital for Americans to realize the power of the freedoms they possess.

Without knowledge of the freedom to vote, a person’s vote goes to nothing, X said. Too many people are ignorant of the voting process and can be easily manipulated and used.

As a way to get people to vote, the Black Think Tank, as part of an SIUC Black Affairs Council program to celebrate African American History Month, sponsored a voter registration drive recently to increase voter participation in the March primary election.

Etta White, a voter registrar for Precinct Five, said the drive was geared toward African Americans, however people of all nationalities were encouraged to register. She said there was active participation by all races.

For some reason, students seem more interested in voting for this election, White said.

She attributed this interest to students’ increased awareness of the political process and how actively participating in elections can affect them.

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Lorenzo Henderson, chairman of the Black Think Tank’s Political Action Committee, said this was the first time the organization sponsored a voter-registration drive. He said he was pleased with the number of students who registered.

About 115 people registered in three days, Henderson said. The majority of those had never been registered before.