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Students will not be able to cast their ballots on campus in this year’s mayoral election on Tuesday.
Walter Miller, associate vice president for Student Life, said students can usually vote during elections in the Student Union Building. But he said that the city has not contacted the University to place a location on campus for this election.
For comparison, there will be 51 open polling locations around the city on election day.
“We were not requested to be a site,” he said. “We’re usually a site in countywide or statewide elections. It’s a city election, so (the decision) is coming out of the city.”
Miller said that the SUB started welcoming voters on election day two years ago during the most recent Bernalillo County elections. He said that last year the SUB had a polling location for the presidential elections.
Polling locations encourage student voter turnout, Miller said. He said it is important for UNM to have polling locations during elections.
“We tried to have as many people who can go out and vote and to make it more convenient,” he said. “I can’t speak for the county, but having that in this facility is a good part of the institution to give everybody a chance to vote.”
But Miller said he understands why the city decided not to place a location at the University this year.
“It’s a citywide election, so it’s pretty narrow,” he said. “Not everybody could vote. Not everybody is a citizen of the city. You can be a citizen of Rio Rancho, so it doesn’t … allow them much more options.”
The Daily Lobo was unable to contact the Albuquerque city clerk’s office for comment by press time.
Margarita Blanco, a freshman studying psychology at UNM, said not having a polling location on campus makes it harder for students to vote. She said this hurts students’ voice.
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“A lot of us are at the age of 18, and a lot of us are registered voters already who want to affect our community in a big way,” she said. “Students have a voice. If we have polling places here, it would have a great impact. There are a lot of people who can vote here, too.”
The absence of a polling location would disadvantage her personally, Blanco said.
“For one, I don’t drive, and I have classes all day,” she said. “If there were places here to vote, it would be convenient here for students like me. I would vote if I can, because I have classes all day.”
Although she said it seems too late for the University to do so, Blanco still said she urges the University and the city to put a polling location at the SUB by election day. She said she hopes that there would be a location at the building during subsequent elections.
Miller said UNM is already in negotiations with the county to put a polling location at the SUB for Bernalillo’s county elections next year. He said there will be a location at the SUB for the primary and general elections in 2014.
And Miller said he encourages the entire University community to vote on Tuesday.
“If you vote, that means you’re a part of the process,” he said.
The closest polling location to the University is Jefferson Middle School at 712 Girard Blvd. N.E. Polls will open 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and voting will go on until 7 p.m. Registered voters will be able to cast their ballots in any polling location regardless of their district of residence, and will need to bring a photo ID to the locations.
