The presidential election is only days away, but that doesn’t mean political groups are throwing in the towel yet.

With less than a week before Election Day, student organizations at the University of Wisconsin are coordinating their final efforts to get people to the voting polls.

Strong party attachments are evident among most student organizations across campus, but regardless of political preference, these groups are encouraging individuals to make their voices heard.

The New Voters Project is a nationwide non-partisan youth voter mobilization campaign directed at 18- to 24-year-olds.

Its coalition partners include the Associated Students of Madison, Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, Wisconsin Union Directorate, College Democrats, College Republicans and the United States Student Association.

At the local level, the New Voters Project is comprised of UW volunteers and interns.

According to Erica Garry, the UW spokesperson for the New Voters Project, the national coalition set a goal of registering 265,000 young voters by Election Day, including 10,000 UW students.

The group far exceeded that goal nationally.

The New Voters Project and its coalition partners registered more than 500,000 young voters across the nation. About 141,000 youth were registered in Wisconsin alone, Garry said.

She added the next step for groups like New Voters Project is to mobilize all their registered voters.

The New Voters Project spent a lot of time “tabling” at Library Mall during the fall semester to register voters. After the registration deadline passed, the focus shifted to providing the registrants polling locations and non-partisan information about the candidates, Garry said. The group is also informing voters through daily phone-banks and door-to-door campaigning.

On Election Day, the group will begin calling students who have not yet voted at 11 a.m. to encourage them to cast their ballots. They will continue to call the registered non-voters throughout the day in two-hour intervals until 7 p.m.

The New Voters Project also will station two to four people outside each of the seven polling places across campus to encourage students to vote and to assure them they can cast their ballots until the polls close at 8 p.m.

“It’s a full-scale effort on Election Day,” Garry said, adding that one of the group’s main goals is to ensure everyone has a positive experience on Election Day.

The Vote 2004 Coalition is another non-partisan group with a goal of mobilizing and informing UW students.

According to coalition member Jennifer Knox, the group will combine phone-call and door-to-door campaigning to make sure students know where polling locations are and what polling materials they need on Election Day.

“It is important for students to vote, not only on the national level, but the local level as well,” Knox said.

The College Republicans are working closely with the campaigns for President Bush, U.S. Senate candidate Tim Michels and U.S. House of Representatives candidate Dave Magnum. They, like The Vote 2004 Coalition, are using phone-banks and door-to-door campaigning to remind people to vote on Election Day.

Nicole Marklein, chair of the College Republicans, said campaigning is not just about reaching out to a supportive crowd.

“We’re trying to show there is a big Bush presence on campus,” Marklein said.

In the last few weeks, the College Republicans have informed people of their voting options.

“A lot of what it comes down to is which side mobilizes voters better,” Marklein said.

Marklein said the recent Rock the Vote event and College Republican meetings have tried to make students aware of voting options like casting absentee ballots and voting early at the City County building on Martin Luther King Blvd.

The Students for Kerry campaign has also cooperated with the Democratic candidates in other races.

Rachel Donald, chair of Students for Kerry, said the group is working with the campaigns of Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Russ Feingold.

Donald emphasized the importance of early voting, especially because of expected lengthy wait times at polling places.

Donald is encouraging students to “go vote with friends.” People are more likely to wait in long lines if they are with friends, she said.

“We are hoping the group mentality will encourage people to go out and vote,” Donald said.