Penn State Campus To Host Polling Locations
This story was written by Caitlin Cox, Daily Collegian
As the Pennsylvania primary race comes to a head Tuesday, with more than 8.3 million registered voters in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University students are saying they are excited to vote, but some are unsure where to go.
"Of course I'm excited to vote; it's my first time," said Rand Yacoub, a junior in electrical engineering, adding that he didn't actually know where he had to go to vote.
Each voter is designated to one voting location based on his or her registered address, according to www.co.centre.pa.us/elections/elect.asp. The voter must vote at the precinct that is written on his or her registration card.
There are seven locations for the area surrounding the University.
Students who live on campus, with the exception of those students living in North Halls, can vote in Heritage Hall in the HUB, according to the Web site. Students living in North Halls must vote at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 109 McAllister St.
The site also says that students voting for the first time or those who switched their registration to Centre County must bring their voter registration card and a valid form of identification, such as a Pennsylvania driver's license, student ID or U.S. passport, to the polling place. If students are voting in a place where they have already voted, they do not need any identification unless they do not have their voter registration card.
"You should definitely have your registration cards because that has your number for which precinct you should be voting in," said Tisha Stefanko, a Centre County Elections Board clerk. "You can only vote in the precinct that you are registered in."
To vote at the voting machine, a voter's name must be on one of the registration lists. If voters cannot find their name on any of the registration lists, they can request a provisional ballot, according to the Elections Board Web site.
"The actual voting process is not allowed to take longer than three minutes, but this primary's ballot is relatively short, so it shouldn't take that long," Stefanko said.
Trey Thomas, president of nonpartisan voter registration group Represent, said the group will have a table at the HUB today to direct people to where they should be voting.
"Our main purpose is to register people to vote, so we will be allowing the campaigns to deal with all the direct contact with voters," Thomas said. "But we are definitely expecting a massive turnout."
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Any voters that enter the polling line at 8 p.m. are still entitled to vote.
© 2008 Daily Collegian via U-WIRE