Students avoid election polls because they don’t believe politicians care, and politicians avoid students because young people don’t vote, sophomore student senator Saskia Harak says.

“It’s a cycle that needs to be broken,” she said.

Student Senate, as well as just about every political party, has been working to recruit students to the polls for Tuesday’s election.

But without the help of a presidential race, elections typically draw a small amount of student voters.

In Wisconsin’s 1998 gubernatorial election, 18 percent of students from upper campus showed up at the polls, city clerk Donna Austad said. That same year, 16 percent of the Water Street area district voted.

In the 2000 presidential election the numbers hit 69 percent for upper campus and 61 percent for the Water Street area, Austad said.

The hype surrounding a presidential election is part of the reason for the dramatic increase in young voters, said Rodd Freitag, associate professor of political science.

“You think of this as a radar screen,” Freitag said. “It’s hard not to pick up (when) a presidential race is going on.”

This is Wisconsin’s first gubernatorial election in 16 years without former Gov. Tommy Thompson. Freitag said he expected the campaigns to be better received.

“You’d think there’d be this sort of swell of enthusiasm,” he said. “This year is strikingly quiet.”

Blame for that can fall on voters and politicians, he said.

Recruiting student voters has proved difficult for senior Kristen McMullen, president of the university’s College Democrats.

“It’s been a lot harder this year than in 2000,” she said.

Some voters are passionate but McMullen said the turnout hasn’t been what she had hoped for.

Apathy runs among young people throughout the state, said Andrei Strizek, vice president of the Campus Greens.

Ultimately, students just don’t know the candidates well enough to be excited for the election, he said.

Junior Amy Bullis said students have to find something they connect with to become engrossed in the campaigns.

“You really have to find an issue that sparks your interest,” she said.

Bullis is paying close attention this year ‘s election because she said she plans to pursue a career in education – a sensitive topic in the election.

Harak said many students turn away when the campaigns focus on social security and prescription drug plans and not on student issues.

Student Senate’s campaign to recruit voters yielded some success and possible reason for optimism.

While registering students, some miscommunication with the city caused a hindrance in the process, Harak said.

In two weeks, Senate managed to register 200 students. Once the problems with the city were resolved, Harak said they registered about 600 people in two days.

Still, there is a ceiling on what to expect from potential student voters, Freitag said.

Some fault lies in the campaigns for not addressings students well enough, he said.

Regardless, students need to stay involved, he said.

“That’s part of what it means to be a citizen in a democracy,” Freitag said. “So you better start paying attention.”