Student lobbyists said they are optimistic that ASU and NAU student government officers will be starting off next semester donning "I love UA," T-shirts.

That will be the punishment if UA claims victory in this year's Voter Registration Challenge that will end this Friday.

"NAU has typically won the competition, however, UA has had several strong years and has pulled through as No. 1 on numerous occasions," said Alistair Chapman, a student lobbyist.

The six week long competition with the three universities puts student lobbyists to the test by seeing which university can get the most students registered to vote.

"We hope that the other two universities will be wearing a shirt stating 'I love UA,'" Chapman said.

Melanie Rainer, ASUA executive vice president and former student lobbyist, said last year's competition brought in 300 to 400 completed registration forms.

She said that getting students to register this year is more challenging since no elections are occurring, thus there is no sense of urgency like there was during last year's competition.

However, this year's challenge has already brought in 300 registered voters, almost breaking even with last year's numbers.

Chapman said there are also 800 more forms students and clubs have picked up but not turned in. Chapman said the Arizona Student Association expects at least half of those to be turned in.

Individual clubs are participating in the Voter Registration Challenge, competing for a $250 award and a special advertisement in the Wildcat paid for by ASUA.

"We have had a large response from clubs who are competing for the $250. We are expecting clubs to put in their final efforts this week, and we hope to see a large number of voter registration forms come into our offices as Friday approaches," Chapman said.

Chapman said that in an attempt to win the challenge, student lobbyists have done more advertising and relied heavily on clubs to get students registered to vote.

He said that student lobbyists are also relying on individuals on campus who are not yet registered to stop by the ASUA offices and fill out a form.

"ASA believes in encouraging civic responsibility and recognize that our voice is stronger if we have greater student participation at the polls," Chapman said.

ASA has already registered 300 voters at events such as Cat Fest, Battle of the Bands and the Democratic Presidential Challenge.

During next year's presidential elections, ASA will be shuttling students to the polls to make the voting process as convenient as possible.

"We do a lot of events to emphasize the importance of going to the polls. We believe that if students are educated about politics then they are more likely to go to the polls," Chapman said.

Chapman acknowledged that ASUA's prior attempt at having a voter shuttle during city elections was not successful, but he said for presidential elections it would be more successful.

He said that during the presidential elections his freshman year, the shuttle was a huge success and he expects the same amount of success next year.

Even though the competition ends this Friday, student lobbyists said they would continue their voter registration drive next semester.

"Students will again see us at all of the large events, and we also plan to put on another competition to encourage students to vote," Chapman said.

Chapman said he expects the presidential election to draw more students to register to vote next year.

Students interested in becoming a registered voter can pick up a voter registration form at the ASUA office, located above the UofA BookStore in the Student Union Memorial Center. Students can also fill out a form at www.asua.arizona.edu.