by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
Student residents didn't have to go out of their way to vote in the city election on Tuesday.
Students living on campus were able to cast their vote at the SRC Commons Building. Anyone registered in precinct 049 was able to vote on campus.
Presiding Judge Paul DeBlassie Jr. said at 3:15 p.m. only 49 people had cast their ballot on campus, including UNM President Louis Caldera and his wife Eva. There are 1,327 registered voters in precinct 049, he said.
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"It's a little anemic," DeBlassie said. "It would be wonderful to get 10 percent, but the University campus is known for a low turnout for these type of elections."
The SRC has a polling booth set up for all elections, he said, including the presidential election last year, which had a good student turnout.
Shannara Green, a UNM student who voted Tuesday, said she lived on campus last year and was able to vote at the SRC this year because she was still registered under her old address. She said the voting booths on campus are convenient.
"For everyone else that lives here, it's great," Green said.
She tried to encourage her friends to vote in the city elections, she said.
"I told them the old clichÇ thing," she said. "Don't vote. Don't complain."
UNM student Tim Robinson lives on campus and said it was nice to have a voting booth because he doesn't have a vehicle.
"The closest booth I have to go to is seven blocks away if they didn't have a polling place on campus," he said.
He said the polling booth allowed him to vote without hindering his study schedule.
"Having one on campus takes just five seconds," Robinson said. "Walk over here. Poll. Get back to my studies."
Robinson said didn't know there was a polling station on campus until he saw signs near the SRCs. The low student turnout might be a result of poor advertising, he said.
"There hasn't been a lot of advertising for the polling places on campus," Robinson said. "They (students) have probably been going to other places if they do vote."
UNM student Tela Wood did not know the city election was Tuesday.
"I didn't even know that they already happened - That's awful!" she said, 15 minutes before polls closed.
Wood said she is a registered voter but wasn't aware of the elections because of her busy class schedule.
Green said students should vote because the city elections are as important as presidential elections.
"It's the city election," she said. "Your living in the city. Just freakin' vote. You know, just freakin' vote."
