Precinct 10 voters wonder 'When do we get our stickers?'
By KRISTEN KREBS
DCN Correspondent
Residents of precinct 10 lined the halls of the Kirby Student Center today, waiting to vote in the Kirby Ballroom. Precinct 10 voters are primarily students living on campus at UMD.
“We started in with a vengeance at the break of 7:00 [a.m.],� said Gail Marsman, an election judge in the Kirby Ballroom.
The polls were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the length of time that voters waited in line varied greatly throughout the day. Ultimately, 2,448 individuals from precinct 10 voted on campus. Obama won the on-campus vote with 1,616 votes. Franken won the on-campus vote with 1,104 votes.
The main issues of concern in the line: when voters were going to receive their stickers, last minute registration and which line voters had to wait in, A-K or L-Z.
Gina Pudlick, a building manager for Kirby Student Center, began directing the line traffic around 10 a.m. According to Pudlick, the L-Z line was consistently shorter all day.
Pudlick began asking students waiting in line, “Are you A-K or L-Z?� When they responded “L-Z,� Pudlick said, “good answer,� and pointed to the shorter line.
For the 13 hours that the polls were open, the voting line was the longest from approximately 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. At that time the line stretched from the ballroom doors, down the Kirby staircase and extended nearly to the Kirby Food Court.
Deedra Bowman, a UMD freshman, waited alone in line at its longest point to vote for her first time.
“It was nuts,� she said as she laughed about her experience. “It was kind of expected; I figured a lot of people would be voting around that time.�
Bowman waited in line for approximately an hour. While she waited she heard others around her discussing their political decisions.
“I didn’t think people would be that open about it,� Bowman said.
Many on-campus voters were required to register in the ballroom today. According to election judge Tim Bradshaw, almost one in five voters registered with their home addresses instead of their campus address. Thus, they were required to re-register just before voting.
From 3 p.m. on, the registering line was far longer than then the already registered voters, snaking around the ballroom.
“They could have been in and out instead of standing in line for two hours,� Marsman said.
Unfortunately, many students were unaware of their mistake until they arrived at the polls.
Katie Martineau, a UMD freshman, found out that she mistakenly registered under her home address. Maritneau arrived at the ballroom just before 8 p.m.
“I booked it up here,� Maritneau said. She quickly re-registered, cast her vote and turned in her ballot to become the final and the 2,448th voter of precinct 10.