Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton encouraged students to get out and vote Thursday during a rally at Macalester College that drew nearly 2,000 attendees.

Clinton, Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken were among those who discussed the importance of political involvement and the benefits of early voting at the rally. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Secretary of State candidate Steve Simon, also spoke briefly.

“Think about the close elections that Minnesota has had in recent years,” Clinton said. “If you don’t show up, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You can’t take anything for granted, and you sure don’t want to wake up the day after the election and wish you had done more.”

Clinton also praised Minnesota’s high voter turnout rate. According to the United States Census Bureau, 73.2 percent of those eligible voted in 2012. The national voter turnout rate was 61.8 percent.

“Minnesota has a proud tradition of high turnout,” Clinton said. “You take your responsibilities as citizens seriously, but don’t slack off now.”

Franken and Dayton also emphasized the importance of voting and reminded the rally’s attendees that Minnesota voters can now cast absentee ballots for any reason. Clinton encouraged students to spread the word about early voting.

“Talk to everyone you know. Talk to your fellow students, talk to your family, talk to your neighbors,” she said. “Tell them early voting has already begun. Tell them they have to vote, and they should vote, and if they don’t vote you will never listen to them complain about anything that happens in politics.”

In addition to encouraging students to vote, some speakers discussed student loans. Franken, who is campaigning to be re-elected as a U.S. senator, said students have expressed concerns over debt during discussions with him.

“(Students) can’t reach for anything big because this debt is weighing them down,” Franken said. “If you’ve got that kind of debt, it can be a personal nightmare; but if you care about our country’s future, it’s a national crisis.”

St. Thomas sophomore Meghan Petersen attended the event to support Clinton, Franken and Dayton, and she said she appreciated the message they were sending.

“I know a lot of people on college campuses aren’t voting, and so I was really happy to see all these people here today at Macalester,” Petersen said. “Obviously this was in support of DFL-ers, but vote for yourself and vote for who you think should get elected regardless of party lines.”

Carl Cusack, a sophomore at Gustavus Adolphus, said students need to vote because they can make an impact.

“I think it’s critical that especially this year in a midterm election, college students get out to vote,” Cusack said. “I know that college students make up a key voting block in college towns.”

Clinton shared Cusack’s attitude.

“The questions really is: Are you going to tune in or tune out?” she said.

Grace Pastoor can be reached at past6138@stthomas.edu.