Few vote early at ISU

They were supposed to be throwing a party, but representatives and volunteers for Sen. Barack Obama's campaign were not in a festive mood Wednesday afternoon at Wolf Field.

As a DJ mixed hip-hop music and hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on a grill, sophomore exercise science major Asia Smith lamented over what she considered a lack of substantial turnout at Cunningham Memorial Library's satellite voting center.

"It's not about who you vote for, it's about voting," Smith said, wearing a neon-green shirt reading "Follow Me to the Library Now to Early Vote."

She feels that apathy and laziness may trump any other excuses students have for not casting a ballot.

"If you don't vote, you have no voice," Smith said, adding that the next four years is "enough time to change our fate."

Eight hundred and ninety-six ballots were cast at the library as of Wednesday, according to figures compiled by the Vigo County Clerk's Office. That compares to 4,387 at Meadows Shopping Center and 2,873 at Plaza North Shopping Center.

At Southland Shopping Center, 2,416 ballots have been cast, the clerk's office reported.

County officials are considering eliminating the library from the table of satellite centers, said Vigo County Republican Party chairman Bill Treadway.

He cited statewide budget problems, not voter turnout, as the reason.

"I'd rather cut out a satellite voting place than cut people's jobs," Treadway said.

The number of voters at the library also includes faculty members, Smith noted.

Bionca Gambill, a local Obama volunteer and 1994 ISU graduate, was disappointed by young people's response to the election. "What ISU needs to do is get engaged in the political process and get students engaged," Gambill said.

Part of the problem may be that ISU is a commuter campus, she said.

Gambill pointed out that the library voting center would not be open on Election Day. The last opportunity to cast a ballot on campus will be 8 a.m. to noon Monday.

She was also disappointed about the turnout at Monday's event in the Sycamore Lounge featuring Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Excluding the governors' entourage, Gambill estimated 75 people heard the women speak. A visit by such high-profile politicians would have generated massive interest when she was a student, she said.

Montrice White, a freshman undecided major, has voted at the library.

White said she took advantage of the music and free food to "support the president that I voted for" (Obama).

( Nick Hedrick is a freshman communication major. He can be reached at sascamed@isugw.indstate.edu.)