Purdue hosts only voting location while classes in session

After months of controversy regarding Purdue's inability to host a voting location, the CoRec opened it's doors 10 a.m.Thursday to allow voters from Purdue and across the county to vote.

Even with classes going on across campus, a line stayed wrapped around a side of part of the building throughout the day.

The voting location stayed open for six hours, ending at 4 p.m.

The march to the CoRec

Thursday morning, a group of left-leaning activists played music and marched down Third Street, holding “VOTE NOW COREC” signs in an attempt to alert students about the early voting location.

Disappointed with the lack of voting locations on campus, the Greater Lafayette Indivisible and Tippecanoe Democratic Party organized "March to the Polls."

Campus lacks the proper amount of polling locations for Purdue’s population, Lisa Dullum, Tippecanoe County Council member for district 4, told the Exponent, citing that both the PMU and Mackey Arena have been used as voting locations in the past.

“Because Purdue and the Election Board didn’t want to make it happen,” she said, “I've been asking (why there are fewer polls) as a member of the Council and I've been asking that question as a citizen.”

Dullum urged students to voice their concerns about voting to Purdue and at their local City Council Meetings.

Ted Hardesty, Purdue alum and former West Lafayette city council member, said he wanted to march to raise awareness for voting on campus.

The "March to the Polls" was a way for students to know where voting is taking place, Hardesty said.

“Every different medium we can use to try to get them to know if there's voting going on is good,” he said.

Henry Lund-Mikkelsen was another voting advocate who shared some wider concerns about the limited voting locations. The first-time voter said he was relieved Purdue is having early voting, but one location can’t support over 50,000 people.

“Just look at the dining court lines,” Lund-Mikkelsen said.

He also claimed Purdue was being hypocritical for requiring students to complete Civic Literacy courses but limiting voting locations.

These courses are supposed to help “Identify opportunities to grow students’ engagement in American politics,” according to Purdue’s website.

The "March to the Polls" concluded at the front entrance of the CoRec. Eligible voters walked around the CoRec and joined the already long line of early voters.

In line

The line to vote outside the CoRec’s Northwestern gymnasium was deceptively short, ushering people inside the building fairly quickly. But once inside, voters were subjected to about an hour more of waiting before they could cast their vote.

Lynlee Rice, a senior in political science and applied statistics, stood in line for 45 minutes to vote. Rice said the CoRec was not equipped to be the only early voting site on campus.

“It was an administrative mishap, and it didn’t get done. There was a dropping of a ball” she said.

As a senator for Purdue Student Government, Rice also mentioned PSG passed a resolution to express disappointment in the university’s lack of polling locations.

The PSG resolution helped in extending the early voting hours operation. Originally the CoRec was scheduled to be open from 1-4 p.m. To accommodate more voters the hours were changed to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Even with the extended hours, Rice still had thoughts on their handling of the polls.

“I definitely think this is a form of voter suppression because a good amount of the votes in West Lafayette come from people who are registered to vote here on campus,” Rice said.

Katie Gearlds, Purdue’s women's basketball coach, also voted at the CoRec Thursday.

Inside the voting location, voters across the county wait to cast their ballots. Katie Gearalds was one of the many who voted on campus during it's only day of voting.

Coach Gearlds recounted her previous experiences voting on campus.

"I'm just proud to be out here doing my civic duty, casting my vote," she said. "It wasn't very long ago that women didn't have a right."

She said it was an honor to vote on campus this year and encouraged students to do the same.

“Everybody who gets to the polls are just trying to do their job and making sure they use their right to vote,” Gearlds said.

On Oct. 24, Purdue had its first and last voting location open for six hours.

Tucker Ricks, a freshman in the polytechnic school, said he disliked the inaccessibility.

“People in college towns usually don't have transportation,” Ricks said. “So it's just kind of gatekeeping them.”

He said students may have a harder time reaching other voting locations, especially if they couldn’t vote at the CoRec when it was open for early voting.

Nicholas Beaver, a freshman in political science and law and society, said he appreciated there was at least one on-campus voting location.

“For me, and I’m sure for other college students, [early voting] makes it a lot easier to find the time to vote,” Beaver said. “It helps with my schedule.”

Although Beaver said the time of the early voting location worked out for him, he said he knew that might not be the case for others.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of people for who it doesn’t work,” he said. “It probably would have been better if there were more times or more places across campus, just for accessibility.”

Noah Cain, a sophomore in the polytechnic school, said he’s aware Purdue had issues setting up voting locations, but he still wishes there were more accessible options.

“It would have been really convenient if they had just used the PMU,” he said. “It was kind of unfortunate they didn’t have more places.”

Purdue lab technician, Jellie Snyder, said they disliked the lack of available voting locations on campus because of how it could impact the turnout of young voters.

“It’s obviously completely unfair,” Snyder said. “It completely skews the bias in favor of older voters who might be voting differently than younger voters.”

Additional reporting by Wil Courtney, City Editor.