Polling on campus down 27 percent from last governor's election

Penn’s polling stations saw less than one-third of the voter turnout this election cycle than they had in the 2012 presidential election and had 27 percent fewer voters than in the last Pennsylvania gubernatorial election.

An estimated 1,060 people turned out to vote for Tuesday’s election at polling locations on campus, according to polling data posted outside campus stations. More than 3,500 student voters turned out to polling places in 2012 during the presidential election.

The number of students voting in midterm elections has been on the steady decline for years. Campus turnout was 1,460 students in 2010, and 1,521 students in 2006.

“Even though we don’t have as much turnout as the residential neighborhoods, for us this has been a big and exciting turnout,” said Alice Wells, a native Philadelphian working the polls said before the ballots had been counted. “We’ve had people dribbling in all day long, and that’s been really nice, and it’s all students here.”

Fewer freshmen seemed to be voting today, Assistant Director of Penn Leads the Vote Laura Thornton said. “Today, we’ve seen a lot less freshmen and mostly older, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. These are the ones that have registered and voted before.”

Sean Foley, political director of Penn Democrats, said turnout may have been low this year because students are less likely to vote in midterm elections than presidential ones.

This year, like in past years, there has been a big move on social media to spread the word about getting out to vote. Facebook installed a specific setting to post on the behalf of users, while Snapchat offered a special “I voted” filter.

Penn Dems President Amiyr Jackson also noted that Penn Dems used social media to get out the vote. College sophomore Ben Fogel, who volunteered at the Republican Headquarters for Montgomery County, said flyering also helped get people mobilized.

At polling stations on campus, Democratic candidate Tom Wolf defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race by wide margins, receiving over 89 percent of the vote, as to the 10 percent of voters Corbett won over on campus.

For some students, incumbent Corbett’s ineffectiveness drove them to vote for Wolf.

College junior Louis Capozzi said in a Facebook post that his vote was “reluctant” and that he voted for Tom Wolf because he believed he would be a more effective and inspiring governor. He also stated that Corbett’s positions on gay marriage, immigration and education did not align with his own, but ultimately Wolf won his vote as an indictment of the incumbent.

Education was also a factor in some students’ decision to vote for Wolf.

“From what I understand, Corbett did horrible things to the education system and funding, and I am happy he is no longer governor,” College junior Michelle Gassmann said. “I consider it a win.”

Staff Writer Jonathan Baer, City News Editor Harry Cooperman and Contributing Writers Dia Sotiropoulou, Benjamin Zou and Carolina Zheng contributed reporting.

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