PAGE 2 // WEDNESDAY. APRIL 21, 2010
NEWS
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Students registered to vote in Alamance
County run into trouble at polling stations
Jack Dodson
News Editor
Molly Frank, a junior at Elon University,
cannot vote in Alamance county’s primaries in
May unless she re-registers to vote because she
changed addresses since last voting.
She said while this makes sense, many
students do not realize that when they change
residences on campus, they have to update
their voting registration.
Frank, a Massachusetts native, said she
changed her registration so that she could
vote in the 2008 presidential election in North
Carolina.
“1 knew that it was going to be more of a
close race here than in Massachusetts," Frank
said.
After a close election year that prompted
some Elon students to register to vote in
Alamance County, some students are realizing
when they go back to vote in 2010, they are
unable to because they have changed housing
assignments on campus.
Daniel Harwell, president of Elon’s chapter
National Campaign for Student Political and
Civic Engagement, said when he was preparing
to advertise the various primaries this year, he
and public administration and political science
professor George Taylor found students who
had moved housing assignments on campus
were no longer able to vote. Early voting, which
ends May 1, is the last chance for students to
re-register who want to vote in the primary.
He said this is because the address students
use when they vote is no longer up to date if
they have moved on campus. Elon’s campus is
also dissected down Haggard Avenue into two
voting districts, he said.
Frank said she would have liked to be
reminded by the school that she had to update
her registration.
“1 think it makes sense," she said, “1 just
didn’t think about it.”
According to Harwell, many of the students
who changed their registration to vote in
Alamance County do not realize they have to
update it every year.
JACK DODSON | Ptiotographw
Worlters for ttie election board in Alamance County sign-in registered voters April 16 at Graham Public Library during early voting.
Harwell said his organization has been
trying to get the word out about the issue to
make sure students know before they go to
vote.
“We at least wanted to make people aware
going into it so they aren’t surprised,” Harwell
said. “1 think the biggest thing is students just
being more aware of it."
This is the first year his organization has
noticed the problem, he said, so it is the first
year they have tried to address it.
“Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that
we’ve kind of realized too late,” Harwell said.
He said his group’s efforts would mostly
consist of trying to get the word out that JACK DODSON I Photographar
students need to re-register to vote during Early voting started last week for Alamance County at the Graham Public Library.
J Students who are registered to vote In the county, but who have changed housing
early voiing. year have to re-reglster to vote to participate in May's primary election.
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