Last chance to register to vote
A group of Franklin students and faculty members set aside part of their Tuesday to register new voters on campus.
With signs around campus proclaiming "280 faculty, 1153 students, 1433 votes for Indiana," a committee handed out voting applications to those not registered to vote in the November election.
Junior Amber Newlin, the Student Congress president who organized the group, said they gave out more than 300 applications. She said she considered the drive a success, given the number of people who completed registration right away.
"From 7 to 8 p.m., within our one hour, we had 21 people register," Newlin said.
Service Learning Coordinator Doug Grant contacted Newlin and asked if she wanted to get involved.
Newlin said she was impressed by the number of people who volunteered for the drive.
"The students that we had worked really hard in such a short amount of time. It really showed a lot of interest in the election," she said. "Everyone on this committee worked their butts off. This group was passionate about what they were doing."
Complete registration forms can still be turned in at the Student Activities Center on the second floor of the Student Center until Sunday.
Statewide registration
More than 70,000 Indiana residents have registered to vote since the May primary and those numbers are rising as the deadline nears to vote in the Nov. 4 election.
Indiana had 4.39 million eligible voters as of Sept. 21. The deadline to register to vote in the state is Monday, two days after Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches stop registering voters.
The May primary contests for presidential and gubernatorial candidates prompted a record number of new voter registrations this year, said Jim Gavin, a spokesman for the Indiana secretary of state’s office.
And that trend shows no signs of stopping, which could pose some problems for election officials as people decide at the last-minute to register to vote before the Oct. 6 deadline.
"In the primary – on the last day – we got 7,000 registrations, so always expecting more than expected," said Regina Harris, the Lake County voter registration administrator.
Harris said most of the people walking into the voter registration office are requesting an application for an absentee ballot or information for registration drives.
A federal or state-issued photo identification card is required to vote, but not to register, Gavin said.
Early voting
Election officials hope more Hoosiers will cast their ballots before Nov. 4 this year, possibly alleviating problems that could arise on a busy Election Day.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita told election administrators in a letter in August that they should encourage early absentee voting to help reduce potential problems — including long lines, ballot shortages and poll-worker and voter confusion — on Election Day.
"By all accounts, we could see turnout records statewide," Rokita wrote.
Rokita usually is not a fan of early voting. He considers Election Day a community-building exercise, with everyone heading to the polls on the same day to perform a civic duty, Gavin said.
But things have changed this year due to the keen interest in the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. Rokita has predicted that up to 750,000 Indiana residents will either newly register to vote or update their registrations with new addresses or other changes by the Monday dealine
Early voting proved popular in May’s primary, especially in counties that set up early voting locations on college campuses and those that are part of a pilot program allowing vote centers at grocery stores or malls.
Statewide, 11 percent of primary voters cast absentee ballots this year — the highest percentage in two decades of primary elections.
Hoosiers can vote early two ways — with an absentee-in-person ballot, which anyone can cast by visiting their county election office, or absentee-by-mail, an option available to those who cannot vote on Election Day.
Monroe, Tippecanoe and Vigo counties set up satellite early primary voting locations at Indiana University, Purdue University and Indiana State University, respectively. People could vote on campus early instead of going to the county election offices.
Ball State University officials asked Delaware County to set up an early voting center on campus for the general election, but GOP officials objected. Delaware County Republican Party Chair Kaye Whitehead sparked controversy by telling The Star Press of Muncie that a campus site could encourage voting by uninformed students more easily swayed by freebies like hot dogs.
Early voting does not necessarily help one party over another, said Robert Dion, who teaches American politics at the University of Evansville.
"At the end of the day, the main idea should be making it easier for everybody to vote and let the chips fall," he said.
Absentee-in-person voting at county election offices begins Monday and runs through noon on Nov. 3. Absentee ballots are counted on Election Day, Nov. 4.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
