What if on the November fourth ballot, Obama’s name had beenmisspelled Osama? This is the kind of question the authors of the 200 YouthVoteballot should have asked themselves when writing their informational pamphletand ballot.

On this year’s ballot, distributed over a period of timebefore the November fourth election, Question 7 of the student survey asks,“Would yo [sic] enjoy skill orjob-training classes at school?” Question 17 asks, “Who who [sic] is responsible if students missschool?” Mistakes like these brought many students to hunt through the surveyfor more typos, rather than to take the survey seriously.

 Founded in 1993, YouthVote is organized for the students, bythe students, in an effort to engage the school community in the political worldthat has saturated our minds and our televisions, especially in recent weeks.

 Although we commend YouthVote’s intentions to involve thecity’s high school community in local politics, the mistakes in this all’sYouthVote ballot and student survey have brought students to take electionsless seriously.

 There were errors that not only brought confusion tostudents, but also hurt candidates. In the voter pamphlet, Kevin DempseyPetersen, a candidate for the Representative of District 12 to the U.S. Houseof Representatives, spoke of his advocacy for personal freedoms and providedgood arguments against spending tax dollars on special interests.

 However, Petersen was not represented on the ballot itself,so even if students agreed with his proposals, they could not have supportedhim with their vote.

 Only one candidate, Barry Hermanson, was represented both onthe ballot and in the pamphlet. Furthermore, School Board candidate KimberlyWicoff, who wanted to improve schools in the Bayview and Visitacion neighborhoods,also did not appear on the ballot.

 Not only are various candidates left off the ballot, but oneproposition, Q, which endorses a modification of the payroll tax, has anargument in favor of it listed in the handbook, but no argument against it.

By reading the pamphlet, students will find that PropositionQ will “enable our small businesses to hire more employees, expand benefits,and provide additional services to our communities.”

 YouthVote should have, at the very least, drafted a fair argumentin opposition, because without the second side of the issue, students will notk now the high cost of doing business in San Francisco and how the effects ofProposition Q coud drive more businesses out of the city.

 Many students reacted negatively to the errors in the ballotand on the student survey.

 “The mistakes showed how unprofessional it really was,”junior Emma Shaw said. “If they are not going to take us seriously, then whyshould we take them seriously?”

 The results of the survey and the ballot are significantbecause “they are released back to the schools, the media and the campaigns,”according to Peter Lauterborn, YouthVote Coordinator. They are also shared withgovernment bodies like the School Board.

 Despite these claims, the only access students have to theseresults is through the YouthVote Web site (http://www.sf-gov.org/site/youth_commission_index.asp),a fact which was not announced to students.

Junior Shira Kogan believes that YouthVote’s lack ofseriousness was reflected even more in the fact that they did not announce theresults to the students. “If the results would have been somehow announced tous via the bulletin, I may have looked them up,” she said, “but they are sounavailable to students. It shows it doesn’t matter, and that it was apointless thing to do.”

 Statistically, U.S. citizens between the ages of 18 and 30represent the smallest voting demographic, and according to Lauterborn, one ofYouthVote’s goals is “for high school graduates to continue to vote becausethey are in the habit and are used to considering and researching issues.”

 But students cannot rally behind a proposition if they areonly aware of half of the argument, or endorse a candidate who is not on theballot.

 Even smaller grammatical errors distract the students awayfrom the content of a survey that could shape their educational future. And if they do not take it seriously now, when will they?