Spring Break
Early voting site geared toward students
Elise Phillips, Assistant Pulse Editor
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
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The Pitt Co. Board of Elections director Dave Davis said that for years he and his staff have wanted a site that is more accessible to ECU students.
"There has been an interest in it for a long time," he said. "I know [for] at least four years. [This year] just seemed like the right time. It's going to be such a big election-- the administration got on board with it.'
Davis and other organizations started looking for places on or near campus to house the early voting site earlier this year, and according to Davis, the Newman Catholic Center seemed to be the perfect solution.
"Every site has to be 100 percent handicap accessible," Davis said. "The Newman Catholic Center fell right into that with the pathway leading right up to the door [and] the handicap space right up at the end of the path. It was just the perfect spot."
Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan organization that urges citizens to become involved in the voting process, was part of helping set up an early voting site so close to ECU a reality.
Tia Stanley, field organizer of eastern NC for Democracy North Carolina, said that the closest voting place to campus is Jaycee Park, a 40-minute walk from the center of ECU's main campus.
"If you want to walk to Jaycee Park, that's good, but we can do better," Stanley said. "With 26,000 plus faculty, staff and students, I think it s one of those no-brainer type of things [to put a site on-campus]."
Davis said that UNC-Chapel Hill offers an early voting site for its students, but many of the colleges and universities in the eastern part of the state do not, and that has people buzzing.
"People are excited," she said.
According to the Pitt Co. Board of Elections, 26,428 18-to-29 year-olds are registered to vote in the county, and registration will continue during early voting. At early voting sites, including the one at the Newman Catholic Center, students and non-students can cast their vote regardless if that is their regular polling place.
"The whole purpose of early voting is [that] you can go anywhere in your county and vote," Stanley said.
During the week of early voting, students, faculty and members of the community can cast their vote from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
To register to vote, log on to co.pitt.nc.us/depts/elections/registration. For more information about early voting and early voting sites, visit co.pitt.nc.us/depts/elections.
This writer can be contacted at editor@theeastcarolinian.com.
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