Across California student organization with different agendas, allegiances and values are coming together to help pass Prop. 19, a controversial ballot measure that would decriminalize marijuana consumption in the state of California. These organizations are working not just to educate students about Prop. 19 but also to encourage them to get out and vote.

Jason Aula attends CSU Long Beach, and has been working on the campaign for Prop. 19. “No matter where they come from, students who go to school in California are legally eligible to register to vote,” Alula said. “So we can make the key difference by showing up at the polls.”

In addition to the California College Republicans this broad-based student coalition also includes chapters of the Young Americans for Liberty, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy, among others. These diverse organizations have come together on more than 40 campuses across the state.

Normally the California Young Democrats and the California College Republicans cannot find much to agree on. However, both groups see a benefit to passing Prop. 19. Whether it is the projected increase in tax revenue or the removal of funding for drug gangs these usual opponents have found common ground.

“Our generation has a real opportunity to tip this election in the right direction and reverse decades of failed policy that we’ve unwillingly inherited,” Alula said. “That’s why we’re doing everything we can to register as many of our fellow students to vote as possible before the Oct. 18 deadline.”

But it is not just the young members of the two major parties that are rallying students behind these issues across college campuses. Students for Liberty is an organization that strives to support liberty. According to its website the group is dedicated to the principles that encourage liberty. “Economic freedom to choose how to provide for one’s life, Social freedom to choose how to live one’s life; and intellectual and academic freedom.”

The Students for Liberty do not set policy for local chapters; instead they serve more as an umbrella organization to encourage the discussion of liberty, freedom and students rights. However, with such a strong focus on personal freedom it is easy to understand why some of the campus organizations, which make up the students for freedom, would be drawn to the Prop. 19 fight.

Also joining the fight on the side of liberty are the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL). This organization grew out of the Ron Paul presidential bid in 2008. According to its statement of principles “We welcome limited government conservatives, classical liberals, and libertarians who trust in the creed we set forth.”

One of YAL’s goals is the mobilization of youth activists, a group that has grown in response to the battle over the legalization of marijuana in California. While Prop. 19 does not provide for the full legalization of marijuana that these activists have been fighting for, they do see it as a step in the right direction.

One of the student activist groups that has been fighting for this change is the Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). While not allied with or supported by YAL, they too have joined the fight over Prop. 19. In the past the SSDP has fought to preserve federal funding for students with drug convictions and fought for the reform of campus drug policies across the country.

While each of these organizations has its own reasons for wanting to pass Prop. 19, they have demonstrated the ability to work side by side to get out the vote and educate students about the ballot measure.