Candidate forums planned at NIC

North Idaho College’s Young Republican Club has invited the Democrats to campus.

Republicans are welcome, too. So are independents, Libertarians and anyone else running for office this fall.

And if you aren’t sure what you are? Well, that’s OK, too.

Everyone’s invited to attend the string of forums the revived club has planned for this fall, President Vinny Zito said.

Candidates for state and local office have been invited to an Oct. 6 public forum sponsored by the club. Earlier this month, the county clerk and elections supervisor told a crowd of 30 about the election process.

Even though the sponsors of the event were diehard Republicans, Zito said the audience was mixed.

“We try to leave politics at the door as much as possible,” he said.

Though the club is happy to recruit students to the GOP, Zito said there’s a bigger objective – to spark interest in the political process and encourage students to exercise their right to vote.

“There are a lot of young people that aren’t sure where they fall on the political spectrum,” he said.

He said the club’s intent is to bring a little diversity and balance to a campus where he said many liberal views are aired. The forums are a way to help students decide which party they belong to, if any, he said.

At the end of the club’s first forum, they asked candidates and politicians to leave the room. Then they asked the audience what questions and issues they’d like to have brought up at the candidates forum.

Zito said the crowd came alive. He was overwhelmed by the number of questions and issues raised.

Some of those questions will be put before candidates at the forum, which begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 in the NIC Student Union Building.

The club’s vice president, AshLee Strong, said she would like students to become more informed and more involved in politics.

“It’s important for young adults at this age to become involved,” she said. “You don’t need to wait until you have kids and a family.”

Students interested in the club are invited to a meeting at noon Sept. 22 in the Echo Bay Room of the Student Union.