UF students can watch the debates, sport red and blue or participate in discussion over presidential policy, but one question remains: Will they make it to the polls?
Campus groups such as Gators for McCain, UF's chapter of Students for Barack Obama and UF's Chomp the Vote are seeking to ensure that they do.
Volunteers for Students for Barack Obama were on campus Monday handing out voter registration forms and urging students to change their voting precinct to Alachua County.
On Monday, the organization registered 2,533 voters, which includes already registered voters who changed their precinct to Alachua County, said Garrett Garner, the chapter's co-coordinator.
What began as a challenge between the mayors of both Tallahassee and Gainesville to see which university could register the most voters in one day became a mini challenge between the Florida State University and UF chapters of Students for Barack Obama, Garner said.
UF's chapter mobilized nearly three times the amount of students as FSU, which registered about 900 students on Monday, Garner said.
He said the organization's approach wasn't to persuade students to vote in a certain direction but on registering anyone and everyone.
Gators for McCain has taken a different approach during the first few days of class, choosing to stress platform issues over registration, said volunteer Joshua Simmons.
Simmons declined to say how many voters the group had registered so far.
Gators for McCain is also looking to put manpower into the Alachua County local campaign as opposed to placing all of their emphasis on students, Simmons said.
"We're not as worried about people changing their addresses as making sure that they're going to vote," he said.
Chomp the Vote Director Brett Roth said he didn't have the number of students his organization registered.
However, he said Chomp the Vote has put up 7,600 fliers, taken out advertisements on WUFT-TV and spoken to professors who teach large lecture halls.
