Leaders to fight for new districts

Members of student government are leading the way in advocating for voting district changes that could increase youth turnout on all campuses in the UNC system.

As the new session of the N.C. General Assembly approaches, Student Body President Matt Calabria and Vice President Alexa Kleysteuber are preparing to lobby state legislators to secure single voting precincts on each UNC-system campus.

Kleysteuber said the main problem with the current districts lies in the fact that there are six different precincts for students at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Students must re-register to vote if they move from a residence hall in one district to a residence hall in another, and all voting precincts for the University’s districts are located off-campus.

“Our districts are so chopped up, and it serves to disenfranchise students,” she said.

Steve Allred, executive associate provost, said the current system is confusing for students who might be going to the polls for the first time.

Many students also do not realize that Morehead Planetarium is not a polling place on Election Day. Every year, students show up at Morehead thinking they can vote — but they can’t.

“A single campuswide precinct would eliminate some of that confusion,” Allred said.

Kleysteuber said that while addressing the problem at the University, Calabria’s administration realized that voting precincts are an issue on other campuses in the state as well.

The issue, which would normally be dealt with on the local level with the Board of Elections, now is being taken to the state legislature, Kleysteuber said.

The Calabria administration is working with the UNC system’s Association of Student Governments in the effort.

But opponents of the proposal said that Orange County’s early voting system facilitates student voting and that more changes to the precincts are unnecessary.

In the 2004 election, students had the option of either voting early by absentee ballot at Morehead Planetarium or by going to their designated precinct on Election Day.

The 5,416 young voters in Chapel Hill and Carrboro who voted by absentee ballot jumped by 31 percentage points in the 2004 elections.

In the November election, 8,860 young voters cast their ballots in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Calabria said that despite this option, a single precinct is still necessary. “The early voting certainly helps,” he said.

“But having one effective form of voting does not make ineffective all other forms of voting.”

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, said she supports students’ efforts to form a single precinct. Kinnaird introduced a bill during the long session of 1997 that would have made it legal for on-campus students to vote at any precinct in their district.

The bill did not pass, but it facilitated a compromise that led to the early voting bill and the University’s current voting arrangement.

Orange County Rep. Joe Hackney, a Democrat and the House majority leader, said he supports the bill as well as the efforts put forth by the Calabria administration.

“It’s certainly possible that a bill could come out of this session.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.