The Quad

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Op-Ed

I come from a little town in Northwest Pennsylvania called St. Mary's. It's literally in the middle of nowhere, located right in-between Erie and Pittsburgh. During the spring of my senior year at St. Mary's Area High School, my classmates and I were herded into the auditorium to listen to a presentation made by the Elk County Voter's Registration Office. Basically, my peers and I were pressured into registering to vote at that assembly since most of us were of legal voting age, 18. I had many doubts about registering to vote at that time since I was heading to West Chester University in the fall, an area outside of my voting district. None of the presenters were willing to answer the question I had about voting services for college students. Unsure of what to do, I registered to vote during the assembly. I received a card some weeks later stating that I was registered as a Democrat in Elk County. Little did I know that this decision would come back to haunt me one-year later.

When the primaries for the 2008 Presidential election rolled around, I was already in my first year at WCU. The primaries were a hot topic in my political science class, discussed often. Conversations with my friends and family also revolved around the upcoming elections. Like many other Democrats, I was fairly uncertain as to whom I was going to vote for. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were blazing their way across the United States in their campaigns, and I followed their progress in each state.

As the Pennsylvania primaries drew closer, I was thrilled that Clinton and Obama were bringing their campaigns directly to WCU. I had hoped that these events would help me make a more informed decision when I voted in April. I went and listened to Chelsea Clinton campaign for her mother when she held a Q&A session at Sykes. Although I wasn't able to get a ticket to see Obama's appearance on Hardball, I watched the program in my room in Ramsey Hall while the show was broadcast live, about 1000 feet away, from Hollinger Gym. However, while I was caught-up in the political action, I was also kept busy with academic and extracurricular activities. I looked into the absentee ballot process, but filling out the application took second priority to my other obligations.

Continued...

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