The Report Card

After speaking to the crowd for about 10 minutes, Braff marched down Evans Avenue with the group toward DU's closest early-vote center.

Denis Illige-Saucier, a second year masters student, attended the event and voted. Although he was glad to get out the vote, he said that the march was kind of small in comparison to the rally. Not quite half of the students made it to vote.

"I think the organizers kind of undersold how much of a walk it was going to be," he said, referring to the 1.5 mile walk to the early vote center.

"It was a little long," said senior Zoee Turrill, "[but] it was fun to make a statement about the youth vote on the march."

In an interview afterwards, Braff said he really enjoyed himself.

"It was awesome...I love seeing politically active students who are impassioned by a candidate," he said. "Barack Obama is the first candidate in a really long time to electrify students, and he needs every single vote."

Devin Pitts-Rogers, a sophomore, participated in both the rally and the march.

"It was fun to be a part of something like this," he said.

He was also happy to see Braff, but said he hoped that "it wasn't just star power than brought people out to vote."

Josh Kroot, a first-year, was glad to see Braff, but even happier to be able to vote after the march. As a first-time voter from Illinois, Kroot said that he had only lived in Colorado since September, but that he was voting in his new home.

"Being a battleground state, my vote may count more here," he said.

Not all students who rallied with Braff continued on the march, but students like Kroot gathered more to join them along the way.

"I made sure those people voted," Turrill said, referring to a group of people who walked out of a coffee shop and encountered the march.

Braff, who had encouraged students to rally more people, was pleased.

"My hope, and my goal, is to get as many people out there to vote as possible," he said, "I think we're doing that."

Students for Barack Obama has organized more get-out-the-vote events for this week, including a campus visit by Kevin Costner to campus on Tuesday afternoon. The group is also coordinating with Trick or Vote, a voter-outreach group, to host a Halloween-themed early vote concert and march, on Friday.

DU Republicans has no plans to bring campaigns to campus but is putting in volunteer hours at an office near campus to get out its message. In addition to phone banking, the Republicans will be going door-to-door in Denver neighborhoods during the election with a focus on encouraging independent voters to go to the polls and vote for Republican candidates.