These last two weeks, every time I witnessed a student exercising their right to vote at the on-campus early voting site in Western Boulevard’s Creative Services Center, the words of Brian Ratledge, former chairman of the Wake County Board of Elections, echoed in my mind.
“I remember what it was like as a college freshman and sophomore, to not have transportation,” Ratledge said. “But I also know that college students are pretty creative, and if they want to get somewhere, then they can get somewhere.”
Originally, this statement was infuriating. The very notion that anyone believed college students shouldn’t have easy access to practice the foundation of our democratic society is troubling. But alas, NC State students showed their scrappy creativity, asserting themselves at the polls daily for 10 days of democratic passion.
Millennials, lambasted for apathy and perceived laziness, managed not only to show up at, but ensure that their voices were heard with roaring vigor. However, turnout did suffer due to long wait times, lack of hours open and an utter lack of student knowledge toward the site.
The polling saw turnout rise as the week went on. In the first several days of voting, the time spent in line never exceeded one hour, but as the 10-day period trudged along, the wait times began to drastically lengthen.
By Friday, wait times were upward of three hours, and the pattern continued into the next day, as many students waited up to four hours just to cast a vote. The wait was so extreme that many outside groups brought pizza, cookies and doughnuts for those spending their weekend exercising one of the most fundamental rights of American democracy.
Despite the best efforts of dedicated students and volunteers determined to make the voices of the Pack heard at the local, state and national level, this voting location was still unknown to much of the student body. After personally witnessing students involved at Get Out to Vote events, dozens expressed a lack of knowledge to the site and many were completely unaware as to what or where the Creative Services Center was. According to Pack Poll, 28 percent of students claimed that they planned on voting in Talley Student Union, and only 2 percent indicated that they planned on voting at the Creative Services Center.
While it was an absolute blessing to have a site returned to campus, looking in retrospect at the turnout and problems associated with the site’s recognition show that it was by no means perfect.
Imagine now, if early-voting was held at a more accessible location such as Talley Student Union in 2018 or 2020. While turnout this election was tremendous, the numbers of a site in an advantageous location would engage more and more students in the political process. But there is still room for improvement.
A location that was much better known to students would have definitely helped with advertising and getting students out to vote. More substantial efforts outside of student organizations to inform students of wait times and what times they wouldn’t be stuck waiting for hours would definitely have helped students.
Take notes, Wake County Board of Elections. We the students have spoken.
