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SA proposes to move voting sites

SA President Paul Harrison said he sponsored this resolution because many students are confused as to where the polling sites are located
Gail Hoffer - Staff Writer

Eamon Siggins/photo editor
William Lee, Liam Arbetman, and Elaine Liu look on during a discussion of a new resolution that would move polling places to the University Union.

In an effort to increase voter turnout, the Student Association passed a resolution requesting that the polling sites at Binghamton University be moved from the Newing Library and the College-in-the-Woods Commons to a “more centralized location,” such as the Mandela Room.

SA President Paul Harrison said he sponsored this resolution because many students are confused as to where the polling sites are located.

“The full intent of this resolution is to allow students to know where the voting locations are,” Harrison said.

According to the Board of Elections of Broome County, there are 1,282 students registered to vote at the on-campus locations. Since local elections were moved from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years, student voter turnout has significantly reduced. In the 1996 presidential election, 1,273 students voted on campus; one year later, only 97 students voted.

“In the off years, the numbers typically drop depending on the area and who’s running,” said Philip Wittman, New York Political Interest Research Group Project Coordinator at BU.

Other members of the SA said moving the polling site would increase the number of students to vote.

“[The resolution] will get more people to vote. It affects the student body in a positive way,” said Hillside Rep. James Serritella.

However, some members of the SA said that moving the polling site would not be in the best interest of the students. Jacqueline Rubin, an SA Off Campus College Rep. and BU Council Undergraduate Designee Rep., said that election laws, such as the one prohibiting the use of cell phones within a certain distance from the polls, will be harder to enforce in areas such as the Mandela Room.

“Because the Union is so much more highly trafficked, the possibility of legislation being violated is greater,” Rubin said.

Although the resolution did pass, moving the polling sites would require the approval of the town of Vestal, said Michael Najarian, a Broome County democratic committee chair.

William Lee, an SA OCC Rep. and president of the College Democrats, intends to earn that approval.

“This is just the first step,” Lee said. “We’re going before the Vestal Town Council Wednesday at 7 p.m. We’re bringing a big group of students and we’re going to say, ‘listen, we want our polling places changed.’”