NYPIRG Helps Students Vote
Staff members of NYPIRG obtain Affidavit Ballots for students who were denied the right to vote.
Anna Lempereur
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: Voters
"Students don't have the patience and time for that," said Phister. Phister drove students downtown all day so they could speak to the judge and obtain Affidavit Ballots. Fortunately, NYPIRG made photocopies of each student's voter registration form, so they were able to obtain the ballots when they proved that the students did in fact register to vote, and it was not their fault.
Alicia Jordan, a senior at UAlbany, visited the NYPIRG office on Election Day because she had originally filled out an absentee ballot through the organization when a representative came to her classroom to speak about the election. After not receiving anything in the mail, she was worried and called the Albany Board of Elections to find out that she was not registered to vote in Albany, and would have to go home to vote. She went downtown to the Board of Elections with Phister to see the judge, hoping to straighten everything out.
"I was really eager to get an answer and to vote!" said Jordan. "I had been looking forward to voting since I found out Barack was going to be running. I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from voting - this was probably the most important election of my life."
Jordan received an Affidavit Ballot from the judge after explaining her situation, and was very happy and relieved after the many hours of confusion.
"Students didn't know that there was something wrong with this, but there definitely was - they were doing nothing wrong," said Phister. "Affidavit Ballots easily fix the problems that students were faced with, and prove that they are registered to vote."
The process would have been somewhat easier if students did not have to call multiple times just to speak to the Board of Elections. It was nearly impossible for NYPIRG staff members to get through, and when they finally did, they were yelled at and told that if they gave out Affidavit Ballots to students, they would not count the votes.
"I think that this is voter suppression - it is so crystal clear," Zolkind said. "It's a constitutional right that has to be clearly posted at the polling places…there is no grey area."
Alicia Jordan, a senior at UAlbany, visited the NYPIRG office on Election Day because she had originally filled out an absentee ballot through the organization when a representative came to her classroom to speak about the election. After not receiving anything in the mail, she was worried and called the Albany Board of Elections to find out that she was not registered to vote in Albany, and would have to go home to vote. She went downtown to the Board of Elections with Phister to see the judge, hoping to straighten everything out.
"I was really eager to get an answer and to vote!" said Jordan. "I had been looking forward to voting since I found out Barack was going to be running. I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from voting - this was probably the most important election of my life."
Jordan received an Affidavit Ballot from the judge after explaining her situation, and was very happy and relieved after the many hours of confusion.
"Students didn't know that there was something wrong with this, but there definitely was - they were doing nothing wrong," said Phister. "Affidavit Ballots easily fix the problems that students were faced with, and prove that they are registered to vote."
The process would have been somewhat easier if students did not have to call multiple times just to speak to the Board of Elections. It was nearly impossible for NYPIRG staff members to get through, and when they finally did, they were yelled at and told that if they gave out Affidavit Ballots to students, they would not count the votes.
"I think that this is voter suppression - it is so crystal clear," Zolkind said. "It's a constitutional right that has to be clearly posted at the polling places…there is no grey area."
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