It is election season again, and teachers, parents and even radio stations are doing their best to coerce students to vote in November.

Senior Matt Lyons took matters into his own hands by jumping straight from the voter seat to the ballot box to run for Wood County Clerk of Courts.

Lyons, 27, is a political science major graduating in December. He was inspired to run for Clerk of Courts when he made a trip to the Wood County office to apply for a passport.

“I had no idea how to go about getting my passport until I went in. I started looking into some other counties, and the more I researched, the more I realized what other services there were, and I thought to myself ‘Well, why don’t we have these?'” he said.

Lyons is specifically referring to the accessibility of forms and court records that are available online in most of the neighboring counties. A quick glance at the Wood County website reveals that it simply states the address and hours to the office of the Clerk of Courts.

Websites in other area counties are much more extensive.

Lyons hopes to utilize technology to make it more efficient for citizens to take care of all their needs. He envisions a website where “any forms you need are right there in a downloadable form. You never have to set foot in the office.”

For Wood County citizens who live in cities outside of Bowling Green, Lyons would like to experiment with satellite offices to make records and forms more conveniently located for them. He is currently researching grants to make this possible.

“Even if it is just one day a week for now, how do we know until we try?” Lyons said.

Bowling Green students might benefit from a plan Lyons has to bring the Clerk of Courts to Campus so students can get their passports when they travel abroad for the semester or even for spring break.

“The Student Union has all this technology and Internet hookups, so when it comes to high traffic times, why not use it? Bring government to the people.”

Although Lyons is endorsed by both the College Democrats and the Wood County Democrats, he hopes that students will concentrate more on the ideas.

“I would hope that the letter by each of our names really wouldn’t matter,” he said. “This isn’t a policy-making job. I keep records and balance the checkbook.”

Kathleen Hartwell, President of College Democrats, says that the organization supports him, not only because he is a member of College Democrats, but also because, “we are confident in Matt’s abilities and know that he will make a great Clerk of Courts for Wood County.”

Running a campaign and juggling a full course load may be difficult now, but Lyons sees it as a learning experience that will make him more prepared if he wins in November.

Winning in November could be challenging since he is running against incumbent Rebecca Bhaer, who has held the position since 1987.

“Running against an incumbent with a lot of experience doesn’t help a student trying to oppose them, but the fact that students are willing to run these campaigns means they may bring a lot of vigor and energy that could help them,” said Jeff Peake, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science.

Vigor has been a key element to Lyons’ campaign so far. What began with a petition of 50 signatures to get on the ballot last winter now involves four to five evenings each school week, not to mention the entire weekends he spends on the campaign circuit.

According to Lyons, “It’s all about name recognition.”

And that has been his biggest challenge.

Name recognition requires publicity, and publicity requires money. Raising money was more difficult then Lyons thought it would be, but he hopes that the 525 yard signs he purchased will be coming out soon and spur his campaign forward. He has received support from some student organizations and hopes other students will join in and volunteer.

“Government is all about getting people involved,” Lyons said.