JMU Political Science Department Promoting Democratic Rides to Polls

Received an email today from the James Madison University Political Science department:

Looking for a Ride to the polls on Election Day?
Free rides to Spotswood Elementary will be starting at 10am and running every 15 minutes.
Catch a ride at any of the pick up locations: Miller, Showker, or E-Hall. Rides there and back will be running all day.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Joe Fitzgerald at [redacted]

Now, worth noting last year, when Victory abandoned college campuses across the Commonwealth on Election Day, Obama for America had shuttles running back and forth from the JMU campus to the polls all day. These buses were decked out in Obama 2012 signs, decorations and more. While students waited, Democratic volunteers passed out sample ballots for the Democratic ticket, promoting their candidates. While technically anyone was allowed on the buses, the message was clear: VOTE DEMOCRAT.

So I emailed Joe Fitzgerald, to ask who was paying for the buses this year: (emphasis added)

The rides are free and run from campus (e-hall, cob, miller) to Spotswood, the main poll for on-campus voters. 12-passenger vans. Paid for by the Harrisonburg Democratic Committee, but we’ll take anybody who shows up.

Again, while I’m sure they’ll take anyone, that person will be told to vote Democrat, given a Democrat sample ballot while getting into a van that says McAuliffe 13 all over it.

These kinds of emails happen all the time, they’re pushed to someone who rubber stamps them and sends them out to all students in the major. But a state-funded school (through a Republican administration) promoting a Democratic organization?

Asking for trouble.

The standard response from the department is always: if Republicans offer the same service, we’d send that one out as well.

As noted here in the past, Republicans to date don’t really have much time/effort/plan for college campus E-Day operations.