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Central State Students Wait Up to 3 Hours

By Scot Kirk
Black College Wire

Record numbers of students at Central State University in Ohio stood in line Nov. 2 to cast their votes in the presidential election.

Some waited as long as three hours.

Those who persevered helped make total turnout the nation's largest in three decades. According to early estimates, about 20.9 million people ages 18 to 29 cast ballots -- 4.6 million more than did in 2000.

High turnout led to long lines, which some students found discouraging.

"I understand the importance of voting, but waiting for hours gives people a reason not to vote," said junior Kenneth Boyd.

Elections officials attributed the lines to heavy voter turnout and a smaller-than-usual polling station that could not accommodate all of the voters.

Central State is part of Precinct 354 in Greene County. The turnout there was estimated to be 74 percent of eligible students, up from 67 percent in the 2000 election.

The local elections board sent nine voting machines to the polling station, but used only seven because the room that the university provided could accommodate only that many.

Greene County Elections Board Director Carole L. Garman said poll workers were surprised to learn that they had been moved to a smaller space this year. Normally, voting machines are set up in a large ballroom in the student union. This year, the poll workers were directed to a smaller lounge nearby.

Stephanie Wise of Cincinnati waited with hundreds of other students for 2 1/2 hours to cast her vote.

"It was very important for me to stand in that line," Wise said. "This was probably the most important election of my lifetime."

Student Tiffany Allen said the polling station was understaffed and that poll workers were rude to the students, but she was not discouraged.

"My ancestors died for that right; it's my duty to vote," Allen said.

Floyd Johnson, president of the Dayton branch of the NAACP, said that some students at nearby Wilberforce University called his office to complain that poll workers had prevented them from voting.

The students apparently did not appear on the precinct's list of registered voters. According to Johnson, the students should have been given provisional ballots and allowed to vote.

"I know that intimidation occurred," Johnson said.

A week before the election, Republican Party activists challenged the voter registrations of 20 Central State and Wilberforce students, among other voters. Most of those challenges were upheld during a local court hearing, the New York Times reported.

Student leaders at Central State, meanwhile, said they were unaware of any attempt to intimidate or disenfranchise student voters.

"For the most part, everything went OK," said Lydia Folks, president of the Central State chapter of the NAACP.

Scot Kirk, a student at Central State University, writes for The Gold Torch.

Posted Nov. 10, 2004