Officials explain voter turnout
statistics
By Erica Sagon
City
Editor
Statistics showing a low
Purdue student voter turnout this election could be misleading.
The six Wabash Township precincts
that reported the lowest voter turnout rate on Tuesday are densely student-populated
areas.
In addition, statistics show
that only 36 percent of registered voters in the campus area actually
voted.
"That's typical," said Linda
Phillips, the Republican member of the local Voter Registration Board.
"But it's not symptomatic that students don't vote."
Heavily student-populated
precincts appear to have turned out in low numbers; however, Phillips
said the roles, or lists of registered voters, are cluttered with names
of students who have graduated, moved or even died.
"The number of registered
voters are so inflated … It tends to depress turnout statistics,"
Phillips said. This is true for student and permanent-resident precincts
alike, Phillips said.
"That actually compares very
favorably with normal residential precincts," Phillips said.
Rep. Sue Scholer, R-26, agrees
that the inflated roles contribute to deceiving low student voter turnout
statistics.
"There are a lot of students
on those roles listed as registered voters that are no longer here,"
Scholer said. "It becomes very misleading when people become concerned
about voter turnout."
Brad Windler, city council
president and the defeated Democratic candidate for state representative
in District 26, said student apathy in his district was a factor in
the race for state representative. Windler said half of the eligible
voting population in his district is students; only 15,000 out of 60,000
people in that district voted, he said.
"It is a shame because there's
a correlation between the fact we vote the least and we are the most
neglected by government," Windler said.
However, not all student
precincts showed apathy.
Phillips said that in Wabash
20 — the precinct that consists of residence halls and Purdue Village
— over 61 percent of registered voters cast ballots on Tuesday.
Phillips said that the national
Motor Voter Act of1995 does not allow her to cancel any registrations
without voters' written consent.
Phillips said when registered
voters move out of the county, they often forget to cancel their registrations.
This is especially a problem on campus.
"I've got 30-year-olds living
in residence halls," said Phillips. She added that the board's roles
continue to swell with people who have graduated or moved.
Once a year, the election
commission looks for duplicate registrations within the state. Residents
who are registered in two locations are mailed a notice; if they fail
to respond they are put on an inactive status list, but they can still
vote. If voters miss two consecutive congressional elections, they can
be taken off of the roles.
"The problem with it is,
it only catches people who are in-state. If you moved out of state and
you register there, you could be on the roles here forever," Phillips
said.
Phillips said voters should
fill out their previous address anytime they register in a new location.
This gives the old registration location consent to take voters off
of the roles.
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