University of Tampa students went out and voted on Election Day. Students that listed UT as their address were assigned to precinct 165 and their polling station was Greater Bethel Baptist Church. Many UT students got up early in order to be, including senior Ryan Debock who was one of the first people in line this morning, ““I felt tired but happy.”
The UT College Democrats and Students for Obama were also out early providing students with rides to and from the polls. Senior Marissa Robinson was up at 6:15 a.m. in order to be able to man the table the UT Democrats had set up in Vaughn Center.
Michael Long, the president for UT Students for Obama said he’d been working for the Obama campaign for 18 months and said he would be ecstatic if Barack Obama wins. Long was confident about who the majority of UT students would vote for Obama. He said, “So far we’ve seen a very strong support for Senator Obama here, and I do think he is going to overwhelming win the University of Tampa vote.”
The lines were relatively short during the morning, but waiting time increased during the afternoon. Around 4 p.m. some students found themselves waiting for close to an hour to get into the polling station, while earlier in the day some voters didn’t have to wait for more than five minutes.
Senior Taylor Asermely waited for about an hour for her chance to vote in the afternoon and predicted Barack Obama would win the presidential election. If John McCain won the election Taylor said, “I’m moving out of the country.”
Freshman Brittany Morgan voted for the first time today and to add to the significance of the day it was also her 18th birthday “Ya, I’m really excited,” Morgan said.
Junior Alex Fernadez and freshman Lisa Clark got up at 6:30 a.m. to be able to make it to the polls early. “It was really easy, easier than I thought,” Clark said about her first voting experience.
Some students encountered difficulties at the polls, with many being forced to cast provisional ballots. (NOTE: I’m not exactly sure what this means, but UT democrats were saying that was bad...not sure if they will be counted…but I’m confused on that maybe somebody at Minaret knows more).
Junior Molly Caperna waited in the line for a short time but then encountered problems inside. She was told her name was not on the list, but she insisted she had registered at UT. She was finally allowed to cast a provisional ballot.
Andrea Boltwood, sophomore, also had to settle with casting a provisional ballot after waiting for close to two hours because she was told her name was not on the list. “This is ridiculous,” Boltwood said.
Professor Mary Anne Watson is the advisor for the UT College Democrats and Students for Barack Obama, and she was busy giving rides to students since 10 a.m. The Democrats had two vans and a couple cars that were used to take students to the polls. Long estimated that they shuttled about 300 students throughout the day.
While the College Democrats and Students for Barack Obama were out in force and visible on campus, there was a clear lack of representation by the College Republicans and Students for McCain on campus. Katrina Castillo, Chairman of the College Republicans, said that they did not participate with the free rides because she felt it was more important to be in their victory offices working on GOTV, getting the vote out initiative.
UT Students Vote, Some Forced to Vote Provisional
Published: Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, November 5, 2008
 "Photo: Cristobal Gomez")
Cristobal Gomez
1 comments
Raymond Papp
As the faculty advisor to the College Republicans, I wish to apologize to the Republican voters at UT. I was unable to provide you transportation to the polls on November 4th since I needed to attend very important meetings which affected our accreditation as well as teach my classes. I continue to put my job (and country) first. I am very proud of the hard work that Katrina Castillo and the College Republicans did this semester despite overwhelming opposition and, at times, outright hostility, Please take heart that there are more Republicans at UT than it appears--we are just not as outspoken as our opponents. Let's now put our COUNTRY FIRST and put aside partisan politics.
