Spring Break
A.S. voting kicks off
John Hornberg
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News
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Polls opened Tuesday, and up until now, according to Chief Election Officer Alex Antazo, all has run well.
The lack of interest has been noticeable, though, as poll workers and campaigners have noted problems getting students to vote.
Poll workers at each location have been working to get students who may not have been aware of the election in to vote. Paige Armstrong, a junior social work major and a member of Alpha Phi Omega, is one of them.
"Half the people I've had to ask," she said. "The other half just walked straight up."
Armstrong and others from the co-ed honor society volunteered to help run the polls throughout the two-day election.
Antazo said he expected about 450 students to have voted by Tuesday afternoon, and turnout has been steady throughout the day.
"The turnout is kind of slow but constant," he said. "Especially around noon, it was really, really busy."
Antazo said the first day is usually slower than the second, and a lot of students vote online over night.
Of the two polling locations, the one at the Student Union usually sees a higher turnout, said Rich Kelly, the director of Student Involvement.
Juan Luna, who was out campaigning for William Vosa Cavu-Litman near the Event Center polling location, said it's been a struggle to get students to go and vote. He said he had been out for an hour-and-a-half, and would be there for another two-and-a-half-hours, he said.
Antazo said this campaign has been clean, with no problems occurring around the polling places.
"Sometimes it gets a little sticky," he said of past elections. "That just comes with elections in general."
Federal law requires candidates and their associates campaigning for them to stay 75 feet away from each polling place, Antazo said, which is marked by a line of blue tape around each location.
"We don't allow any campaign material or even verbal campaigning inside the line," he said. "The idea is that you are influencing voters too close to where they vote."
Initiated into the voting process was Jessica Cabrera, an undeclared first year student who is a returning student and part of Open University.
"I've never really been involved," she said. "This is my first time voting."
Cabrera said she was glad that Open University students had a voice in the election. She originally wasn't sure she could vote, but was given the go-ahead by poll workers.
Carolyn Manning, a freshman social work major, turned out to vote to show support for Jessica Phan, whom she knows.
"Everyone should want to have a voice," she said. "Everyone should care about who's running the school."
Polling locations at the Student Union and the Event Center will be open again today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and students will be able to vote online at my.sjsu.edu until 8 a.m. on Thursday.
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