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Election 2000: More Votes to Count
Better Turnout, Presidential Toss-Up Generate Increased Ballot Tallying
Orange County Participation
Reflects Heightened Interest
By Amy Dobson
Staff Writer
Of all local parties, the Reform Party
showed perhaps the greatest democrat
ic spirit Tuesday with perfect attendance
of voters at the polls.
All of the party’s registered voters
cast ballots on Election Day.
All two of them.
But the high proportional turnout
among the Reformers was indicative of
heightened interest across the board in
this year’s election. .
According to the Orange County
Board of Elections, about 54 percent of
registered voters cast ballots, as opposed
to 46 percent in 1996, making for long
lines at many polling places.
Mary Andrews, a Chapel Hill resi
dent, said she thinks voting is an impor
tant chance to take advantage of living
in a democracy. “I’m aware that there
are people around the world who yearn
to have the right to vote,” she said. “This
is an opportunity we should never take
for granted.”
Of all registered voters, 34 percent
showed up at the Westwood precinct, 30
percent at Greenwood, 29 percent at
Fetzer Gym and 27 percent at the
Lincoln precinct.
The Weaver Dairy precinct recorded
the highest turnout in the county at 84
percent.
In Orange County, Democrats out
numbered Republicans in registered
voters and in turnout percentage.
Of 51,733 registered Democrats,
29,633 voted, averaging a 57.3 percent
turnout.
Of the 22,444 Republicans, 11,211
voted, giving them a 50 percent turnout
Unaffiliated voters, numbering
20,391, charted a 43 percent turnout
countywide.
UNC Students, Faculty Welcome Bond's Promised Funds
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DTH/LAURA GIOVANELU
UNC-system President Molly Broad chats with Gov. Jim Hunt at the
bond rally Tuesday night. The bond passed with 73 percent of the vote.
Homecoming Online Selection Brings More Voters, Software Malfunction
By Paige Ammons
Staff Writer
Some students who logged on to
Student Central on Wednesday to vote
for Mr. and Ms. UNC in the
Homecoming elections were disap
pointed when a minor glitch shut them
out of the system.
But student officials said the foul-up is
not indicative of a larger problem.
Student election officials reported a
Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.
Napoleon Hill
Homer Tapp of Chapel Hill said the
county commissioners race was espe
cially important to him.
“I’m born and raised in Orange
County,” he said. “The commissioners
can make a big difference in the lives of
farmers and landowners here.”
Tapp’s polling site, Coles Store at
6407 Union Grove Church Road, was
one of the 15 precincts in Orange
County to serve more than 1,100 voters.
“I went to vote at 10 a.m. but left
because the lines were too long,” he
said. “I came back later and things had
died down a bit.”
People who were new to the area or
who had recently moved within Orange
County might have encountered some
difficulty finding their polling sites.
Cass Swing, who recendy moved to
Chapel Hill, said someone from the
community called her at home last night
to tell her where her polling site was.
“Without that call, I wouldn’t have
known where to go,” she said.
But voting was not as easy for Carisa
Showden, a graduate student in political
science.
She said she had to spend about an
hour looking on the map for the White
Cross Recreational Center, her precinct.
“I finally found it,” she said. “I voted
in the morning, and I’m going to be
glued to my television until the (presi
dential race) results are posted.”
The issues at stake in the elections
convinced Orange County resident
Shawn Hamner that voting was essen
tial.
“I thought this was one of the most
crucial elections in recent history,” he
said. “It’s great to make people know it’s
important to vote.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
temporary software glitch in the new
online voting system that was used
Wednesday and will be used for the gen
eral elections of student body officers in
February. “It was only down for about
15 minutes,” said Elections Board
Chairman Jeremy Tuchmayer.
He said the problem was a misunder
standing of how a certain part of the soft
ware worked. “It wasn’t a problem with
the voting program or anything techni
cally wrong with (Academic Information
A Week to Learn
Muslim students are making
efforts this week to educate others
about their faith. See Page 9
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Students wait to vote at Morehead Planetarium's satellite voting site
Friday afternoon. Overall, 54 percent of county voters went to the polls.
Optimistic officials plan to
use UNC's SSOO million for
the Master Plan and other
campus renovations.
By Loren Clemens
Staff Writer
Now that the $3.1 billion higher edu
cation bond referendum has been
passed by N.C. voters, UNC adminis
trators are going to be very busy.
The University will receive roughly
SSOO million in funding, which officials
say will be put to use renovating, updat
ing and constructing campus facilities.
Students and faculty alike expressed vir
tually unanimous approval that UNC
will reap the benefits of the bond.
Services),” Tuchmayer said.
Student Body Secretary Michael
Woods said he was impressed with the
quick response to the glitch.
“As soon as it was reported by a stu
dent, Jeremy Berkeley-Tuchmayer called
(the company that provides the soft
ware), who called AIS and then (AIS)
took care of it," Woods said.
The problem occurred because the
program has 100 megabytes of memory,
but the system was only using 1 percent
“We will be working overtime, but
we don’t mind,” said Anne Cates, chair
woman of the Board of Trustees. She
said the trustees are extremely grateful
to the people of North Carolina who
worked to pass the bond.
UNC officials also are pleased that the
bond received such strong support. “To
do it 3-to-l is just remarkable,” said
Master Plan Director Jonathan Howes,
referring to the 73 percent voter approval.
“It’s a mandate from the people of this
state - now the real work can begin.”
Howes said the increased funding
means the Master Plan can continue into
its next phase of development, which
includes the new science complex and
the demolition of Venable Hall.
Many chemistry students were whole-
See REACTION, Page 4
of that storage capacity. An AIS techni
cian inadvertently set the memory
capacity at the wrong setting. Despite
the problem, Woods said he felt the new
voting system was still successful
because of the increased voter turnout.
Tuchmayer said the total number of
people that voted exceeded last year’s
total of 400 by far, with 1,865 students
logging on to vote.
“It was extremely successful - it was
almost a 500 percent increase in voter
A Nation on Edge:
Bush ; Gore Await
Fla. Recount Results
The Associated Press
In an election for the history books, George W. Bush
cautiously declared victory Wednesday over A1 Gore and
promised to “unite the nation” after the wildest White
House finish in decades.
Gore promised to abide by the final results but insist
ed, “We still do not know the outcome of yesterday’s
vote.”
It was a fitting finale of tumult
and tension for two men who
spent eight months and $240
million on the campaign trail,
only to finish less than 2,000
votes apart in a single pivotal state.
If Bush ends up winning Florida and Gore’s lead in the
national popular vote holds, Bush would be the fourth
man in history - the first in more than a century - to win
the presidency despite coming in second in popular
votes.
Calling it an “extraordinary moment in our democra
cy,” Gore noted that the Constitution awards the presi
dency to the Electoral College winner, not necessarily the
leading vote-getter.
“We are now, a* we have always been from the
moment of our founding, a nation built on the rule of
law," the vice president said.
Bush was looking ahead to his transition to power,
preparing to announce key roles in his administration for
retired Gen. Colin Powell and former Transportation
Secretary Andy Card.
“It’s going to be resolved in a quick way,” Bush said of
the Florida recount set to be finished Thursday. Joined by
running mate Dick Cheney in Austin, Texas, he added:
“I’m confident that the secretary and I will be president
elect and vice president-elect.”
Florida was a state of chaos, its 25 electoral votes the
margin of victory as both Bush and Gore were agoniz-
See PRESIDENT, Page 4
Passage of $3.1 Billion Package
Means Improvements Can Start
By Aimee Brown
Staff Writer
University administrators and some
N.C. legislators - still basking in the over
whelming passage of the $3.1 billion
higher education bond Tuesday - now
face the challenge of managing the mas
sive construction and renovation project
More than 73 percent of the state’s
voters approved the bond, possibly due
to an intense information and get-out
the-vote campaign from bond support
ers ranging from students to alumni.
turnout,” Tuchmayer said. “We credit it
solely to the ease of our elections.”
Woods said the February elections
will run smoothly after this test run with
the Homecoming elections.
“Basically, (assistant student body sec
retary) Fred Hashagen and I have been
working since this summer to create a
simple and completely secure voting
system, and it was a success on that
front,” Woods said.
Woods said one of the advantages is
Bolt
Today: Stormy, 73
Friday: Cloudy, 73
Saturday: Sunny, 62
Thursday, November 9, 2000
I S. Pkishu m
George W. Bush (R)
48,234,493 Votes
48.35 Percent
246 Electoral votes
2,909,465 Popular
votes in Florida
m • h
Al Gore (D)
48,437,330 Votes
48.56 Percent
260 Electoral votes
2,907,722 Popular
votes in Florida
19 of 67 Florida
precincts reporting
Republicans Keep
Congressional
Majority, Power
See Page 2
The bond will fund capital improve
ments at UNC-system schools and N.C.
community colleges.
But some bond opponents say the
bond package also will raise taxes and
increase administrators’ reliance on the
state for funding.
Board of Governors member John
Sanders said he was pleased by the out
come. “I fully expected victory, but not
one of this magnitude,” Sanders said.
He added that campus and state offi-
See BOND ISSUE, Page 4
that voters could vote from a variety of
locations. “Students can vote in Raleigh
or Burlington as long as they have a PID
and a PAC," he said.
Tuchmayer predicted the voting sys
tem would be a success in future elec
tions. He said, “This was the first time it
ran. and I don’t imagine (problems) hap
pening again.”*
The University Editor can be reached <
at udesk@unc.edu.