State reps. Gretchen Whitmer and Paul DeWeese will stop to chat with MSU students about fake identification and election reform tonight.
Whitmer, D-East Lansing, and DeWeese, R-Williamston, will be the guests at an ASMSU-sponsored town hall meeting at 7:30 p.m. in 339 North Case Hall. All students are welcome to attend.
“Michigan State is wholly within my district, and I represent all the students on campus,” Whitmer said. “It is important to talk to constituents, and this will be an another opportunity to do that.”
Whitmer said election reform is especially important to the area after election troubles in 2000.
“What happened at MSU was an atrocity,” she said. “I’ve introduced legislation to allow same day election day registration to alleviate some of the problems.”
Whitmer said 500 to 800 students were prohibited from voting in the congressional race between Mike Rogers and Dianne Byrum, which was decided by fewer than 200 votes in 2000. Rogers was victorious in one of the nation’s most heated contests.
“I’m hoping we have a lot of students,” Whitmer said. “Meeting with people is the best part of the job, and it gets me educated about what my constituents want me to do.”
If students say the meeting with the lawmakers is helpful, DeWeese said he would be interested in scheduling meetings on a more regular basis.
“I always find it important to listen to people to find out their perceptions of legislation and the concerns about how it will impact their lives,” DeWeese said.
He said the issue of fake identification, which will be addressed tonight, is important due to national security concerns.
“This touches on some broader issues of national security,” DeWeese said. “It is important to listen to the college community to find out what the perception is.”
Daniel Bennett, director of legislative affairs for ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, said the meeting will be an opportunity for state lawmakers to hear from the college students they represent.
“We will branch out to a large spectrum of issues that are dealt with in the state legislature,” he said.
And Bennett said ASMSU had specifically targeted Whitmer and DeWeese for the meeting.
“Whitmer is our representative and she is very involved in college issues,” he said. “(DeWeese) is a local representative who is concerned with students and college life.”
