April 24, 2012 at 7:09 PM

It’s one thing to go vote, but it’s another to dedicate an entire day to be at the polling places.

Student Anthony Shelton, an election inspector for the State College Municipal Building , said his position has given him a “cool” opportunity to see the behind-the-scenes voting process.

Shelton (junior-finance) said there is a lot of double- and triple-checking and getting to know each policy and new law so he can help others vote.

Shelton said one of the most rewarding parts of his position is seeing those with disabilities vote.

“Most of the time, college students don’t care enough to come in,” he said. “But the disabled make the time to come out and vote.”

Shelton was elected to his position in 2008, and the first election he worked was the midterm in 2010. He said the general election will be his last time working in Centre County, as he will graduate and move out of State College.

Although he hasn’t taken any political science classes, it’s cool how much the individual vote means, he said. The one aspect that he said he doesn’t like is the long hours on Election Day.

Shelton was at the municipal building at 6 a.m. and won’t leave until 10:30 tonight, when all the votes are counted and voting stations are packed away until November. But Shelton encourages people to go out and vote.

“There is really apathy with students,” he said. “They don’t realize how much politics affects them, from appropriations to the how you drive to the drinking age.”

April 24, 2012 at 6:40 PM

The following shows the residence halls covered by each precinct assigned to vote in the HUB-Robeson, along with the voter turnout for each as of 5:30 p.m. 

Precinct 24 (SC East 1) - East Halls I -

Vote as of 5:30 - 8 Republicans, 10 Democrats

1. Bigler

2. Brumbaugh

3. Curtin

4. Geary

5. McKean

6. Packer

7. Pennypacker

8. Pinchot

9. Sproul

10. Tener

Precinct 44 (College West) - East Halls II

Vote as of 5:30 - 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats

1. Hastings

2. Stone

3. Snyder

4. Stuart

Precinct 27 (SC East 4) - Pollock Halls

Vote as of 5:30 - 16 Republicans, 9 Democrats

1. Beaver

2. Hiester

3. Hartranft

4. McElwain

5. Mifflin

6. Porter

7. Ritner

8. Shulze

9. Shunk

10. Wolf

11. Nittany Appartments (as “Nittany Hall”)

Precinct 33 (SCWC 1) - West Halls

Vote as of 5:30 - 5 Republicans, 4 Democrats

1. Hamilton

2. Irvin

3. Jordan

4. McKee

5. Thompson

6. Watts

Precinct 25 (SC East 2) - South Halls/ Eastview Terrace

Vote as of 5:30 - 17 Republicans, 7 Democrats

South

1. Cooper

2. Cross

3. Ewing

4. Haller

5. Hibbs

6. Hoyt

7. Lyons

8. Simmons

9. Stephens

Eastview Terrace

1. Brill

2. Curry

3. Harris

4. Miller

5. Nelson

6. Panofsky

7. Young

April 24, 2012 at 5:54 PM

The HUB-Robeson’s voting area in Hetzel Lounge has at least five different voting precincts on Penn State’s campus.

A young man in the voting area this afternoon was unsure of where he needed to vote. He eventually found his correct precinct after entering his on-campus address into an iPad application that election judges had handily waiting nearby.

Albert Nakpil, a State College resident and election judge at the HUB’s voting area, confirmed that there was some “goofiness” in the precinct lines that exist on campus.

East Halls are split into two precincts, he explained. One of the precincts contained nearly all of East’s residence halls; however, four buildings were part of a second precinct.

North Halls residents must vote downtown, Nakpil said.

Penn Staters living on North Atherton Street, near Walmart, must vote in Oakwood Presbyterian Church, which is not within walking distance, Nakpil said.

“How do you expect students to get there?” he asked.

Nakpil asserted that he didn’t think several quirky precinct lines deterred students from voting, but he did say that the situation could create confusion or nuisance to would-be voters.

“It’s hard when you’re a student and without transportation,” Nakpil said.

At around four p.m., voter turnout was relatively low: six voters in precinct 44; six in precinct 33; 24 voters in precinct 27; 19 in precinct 25; and 16 voters in precinct 24.

All precincts listed serve at least some on-campus students, and many of them consist of a majority of Penn State students, Nakpil said.

April 24, 2012 at 4:06 PM

Precinct 26 Election Official Ian McClellan of State College projected numbers for today’s election based on elections from years past. He also predicted how many voters would turn out at his polling place, located at the Friends Meeting House, 611 E. Prospect Ave. McClellan said he thinks 621 voters will cast their ballots today in his precinct.

But McClellan’s numbers may be off.

At 2:45 p.m., 26 people voted at Precinct 26 — about four percent of McClellan’s prediction.

“This seriously is a quiet day,” he said.

Voters from Precinct 30 also cast their ballots at Friends Meeting House. They had a total of 15 votes just before 3 p.m.

Election officials from both precincts said their precincts are heavily influenced by student voters.

Anita Fogel, an election official for precinct 30, said many students do not walk all the way to Prospect Avenue to vote.

McClellan said voting might pick up later in the day.

In the meantime, precinct workers occupied themselves by reading books and watching videos on laptops.

Polls close at 8:00 p.m.

April 24, 2012 at 3:23 PM

There’s been more voter traffic this afternoon than there was this morning at the State College Municipal Building today for the Pennsylvania primaries.

Peggy Brown, the judge of elections for the municipal building, said about 30 people have come to vote today thus far, and the turn out has been very low. One reason she gave for the lower voter turn out was that there weren’t a lot of federal races this time around.

“More student were interested in 2008 than they are today,” Brown said. “That was probably the biggest turnout I had seen in my lifetime.”

There are 1,680 people registered to vote at the municipal building, located at 243 S. Allen St. Compared to the last presidential primaries in 2008, this election has seen a drastic drop in voters.

Brown said it’s important for students to vote in the primaries because the local elections will affect them a lot more than the federal elections.

“Why wouldn’t students want to vote?” Brown said.

Emily Pasi showed up to vote in the afternoon.

“There are so many people who don’t have that right,” Pasi (senior-public relations) said. “It’s our job to vote, and it’s just the right thing to do.”

April 24, 2012 at 2:43 PM

Judge of Elections Donna Brooks said she was pleasantly surprised by how many voters had come through the doors of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 109 McAllister St., by 12:15 p.m.

The grand total: six — split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. All of the voters were students, she said.

Earlier in the day, Brooks predicted the polling station would see no more than eight to 10 voters by the time polls close tonight at 8 p.m. Voters who live in Precinct 28, which covers a primarily student-populated part of downtown, cast their ballots at the church.

This primary election is the test run for the implementation of the state’s new voter ID law, but Brooks said this morning that volunteers already ask voters for their identification. She said most students use their voter registration cards and are “very good” about providing either their voter registration cards or their school IDs. Every “once in awhile” they use driver’s licenses, she said.

The trickle of voters into the polls can make a long day for volunteers, but Brooks said they pass the time by reading, playing cards and quilting.

April 24, 2012 at 2:00 PM

With voting for the Pennsylvania primaries almost half way finished, voting numbers at the HUB-Robeson Center polling place have been relatively low, election official Dick Taber, 80, of State College, said.

At 1:03 p.m., some voting precincts had not broken single digits in voters. Each precinct represents a certain section of residence halls on campus. Precinct 24 had three votes, precinct 44 had one, precinct 33 had five, precinct 25 had more than a dozen and precinct 27 had 16 votes, precinct election officials said. The polls have been open since 7 a.m.

Taber said students do not have as much interest in a primary election.

“The only time I’ve seen a big turnout is when someone like Obama runs for president,” he said.

Students of Bellefonte Area High School are running the precincts for class. With the lack of voters, some of the high school students used their time to read books, do homework and even play bass guitar.

Polls will be open until 8 p.m.

April 24, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Most Pennsylvania polling stations will have older adults to help people through the voting process. 

For the polling station in the HUB-Robeson Center in Hetzel Lounge and across Centre County, some high school seniors from Bellefonte Area High School watch over voters as part of an election day program, said BAHS Ed Fitzgerald, social studies teacher. He said the program has been going on for about 15 years and has given students hands-on experience.

Each year, more and more students get involved with the program, which teaches them about the behind-the-scenes work of getting ready for an election day, he said.

Fitzgerald said the program is a good way to start getting students involved in the political process at an early age.

“It’s a great experience, and it’s better than sitting in a boring classroom and hearing about it,” he said.

Gabby Coll, a senior at BAHS, said that there was a lot of work involved in preparing for the day, including filling out paper work and setting out more paper work. She said the amount of record-keeping for the day was a lot to keep track.

“Some of the paper work gets tedious, but I understand why that have all of it,” she said.

But she said she was going to try to have fun today.

Not all students that are in the lounge are in high school, though. Penn State student Owen Gray decided to take the day from his classes to volunteer at the polls.

Gray (freshman-energy business and finance) said he was volunteering because he can’t actually vote in the primary due to Pennsylvania’s closed primary system.

“If anyone wants to see their candidate make it through, it’s their responsibility to see it through and vote,” he said.

April 24, 2012 at 9:19 AM

Judge of Elections Donna Brooks estimates that of the 1,767 registered voters assigned to the St. Paul’s United Methodist Church’s Precinct 28 polling location, between eight and 10 will show up to the polls today.

St. Paul’s, 109 McAllister St., was empty when the polls opened at 7 a.m., except for several election workers waiting to assist the first voter to walk through the doors. Brooks said they will be “lucky” if they see a voter by 9 a.m. and that she’s expecting to see less than 10 voters by the end of the day.

Brooks said it is primarily students who are assigned to the polling location covering the downtown area, including East Beaver and College Avenues.

She said since the presidential candidates are “kind of already decided,” there’s nothing “earth-shattering” in this election. During the last presidential primary, the location saw quite a few voters, Brooks said, although she couldn’t give an exact number. The poll saw 1,445 voters in the 2008 presidential primary, according to Centre County’s election results website.

The Daily Collegian reported that 145 voters showed up at St. Paul’s poll for the mid-term election in November 2010.

April 24, 2012 at 8:50 AM

After polls opened this morning just after 7 a.m., only two people have casted their vote at the State College Borough Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St.

Peggy Brown, judge of elections at the municipal building, estimates about 2,500 people are registered to vote at the precinct this election cycle.

Brown said she is unsure about how many people to expect to turn out for this primary.