For Immediate Release Pitt and Duquesne Students Left Out in the Cold for City Council Special Election: Rally Thursday! City Council President Luke Ravenstahl announced Tuesday that he his proposal that the special election in City Council District 3 to replace Gene Ricciardi, who has vacated his position after being sworn in as a District Justice, be held March 7, coinciding with the spring break of both Pitt and Duquesne. This effectively prevents 25% of district 3 residents from voting, as South Oakland and the South Side, where many Pitt and Duquesne students live make up a large portion of the district. Because the primary falls in May, after most of Pittsburgh’s students have left for the summer, most undergraduates in our city don’t have the opportunity to participate in choosing local representation. Pitt students haven’t had a real chance to be involved in choosing the city council representative who governs them in over 15 years — and that exclusion hasn’t been good either for the students or for the city, where university students are such an enormous segment of the population. This special election, which will fall within the spring term, is a rare opportunity to invite Pitt students to take an active part in the city’s political process. On Thursday 1/12/06 @ 12:30, at the corner of Forbes and Bigelow (in front of Hilman Library). The League of Young Voters, The Stonewall Dems, The College Dems, and other concerned groups will be holding a and rally to compel the board of elections to hold the election on March 14 so University of Pittsburgh students will be able to participate in choosing their next council rep. Council Member Bill Peduto has given his support to the efforts to change the election date and he will be attending the rally. For more info contact the Pittsburgh League @ pittsburgh@indyvoter.org
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Duquesne University,
pa league of young voters,
Pittsburgh City Council,
University of Pittsburgh