2008 Woodie Awards
Absentee Voters Absent
College students don't take time to get absentee ballot
Audrey Mangini
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: Voters
The 2008 election was one for the history books. For almost all your average college students, this was their first time being able to vote, as most of them missed the age requirement for 2004 election by just months.
These college students got to participate in one of the most exciting presidential races in history. If they chose to do so.
Each State has a list of qualifications that the applicant must meet one of to be able to vote absentee.
The qualifications to vote absentee in New York State:
-Unavoidably absent from your county
-Unable to be at the polls due to an illness or disability
-A patient of a Veterans' Administration Hospital
-Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action, or confined in prison for something other than a felony
Some college students just didn't put forth the effort to vote, and their reason is understandable; having to get an absentee ballot, and mail it in.
To receive an absentee ballot, you must either download the application from the New York State Board of Elections Voting page, or pick up the application from the board of elections in the county you reside in.
Picking up this application isn't an option for most college students. If they could go to their county to pick up the form, they could probably also go there to vote as well.
Downloading the form isn't a big problem, as a large percentage of college students now have their own computers, or easy access to one.
Once receiving the form, the absentee applicant must mail it to their county board of elections no later than the seventh day before the election, or deliver it in person no later than the day before the election (again not really an option for college students).
This is where some college students draw the line. Mailing things on college campuses is not always easy.
It's rare a college student has stamps on-hand, and they aren't always readily available on campus either.
At the University of New Hampshire, stamps are hard to come by. "They sell stamps at the Student Union, but it's a hike to get there. It's kind of out of the way from where my classes are, and nowhere near where I live," said UNH senior, Kate Woodcock.
These college students got to participate in one of the most exciting presidential races in history. If they chose to do so.
Each State has a list of qualifications that the applicant must meet one of to be able to vote absentee.
The qualifications to vote absentee in New York State:
-Unavoidably absent from your county
-Unable to be at the polls due to an illness or disability
-A patient of a Veterans' Administration Hospital
-Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action, or confined in prison for something other than a felony
Some college students just didn't put forth the effort to vote, and their reason is understandable; having to get an absentee ballot, and mail it in.
To receive an absentee ballot, you must either download the application from the New York State Board of Elections Voting page, or pick up the application from the board of elections in the county you reside in.
Picking up this application isn't an option for most college students. If they could go to their county to pick up the form, they could probably also go there to vote as well.
Downloading the form isn't a big problem, as a large percentage of college students now have their own computers, or easy access to one.
Once receiving the form, the absentee applicant must mail it to their county board of elections no later than the seventh day before the election, or deliver it in person no later than the day before the election (again not really an option for college students).
This is where some college students draw the line. Mailing things on college campuses is not always easy.
It's rare a college student has stamps on-hand, and they aren't always readily available on campus either.
At the University of New Hampshire, stamps are hard to come by. "They sell stamps at the Student Union, but it's a hike to get there. It's kind of out of the way from where my classes are, and nowhere near where I live," said UNH senior, Kate Woodcock.
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