After a flood of predictions that said the 2004 youth vote would set records, the turnout among 18 to 25-year-olds Tuesday night ended up being no more than it was in 2000. Many students at UB opted not to cast a ballot, either because they did not get their forms in on time or they felt they had no reason to vote.
"I registered at home and never sent in a request for an absentee ballot or changed the address I'm registered with," said Beth Yagley, a junior architecture major. "I had the request form all filled out but I just forgot to send it in."
Yagley said the reason she didn't send in her request form was because she wasn't satisfied with the choices for presidential candidates.
"There isn't anyone I'm really interested in voting for, so it didn't really matter," Yagley said. "I don't like Bush or Kerry, and it seems like you're just voting for the lesser of two evils."
Other students, like Andrew Bunker, a sophomore computer science major, chose not to register.
"I'm not interested in voting," Bunker said. "I'm not informed about the issues, so I'm not going to vote if I don't know what I'm voting for. I didn't care enough to inform myself, though."
Mike Parpiglia, also a sophomore computer science major, abstained from voting in this year's election because of the effort it would have took.
"I didn't want to drive the hour home to vote at my polling place, and I had absolutely no idea how to get an absentee ballot," he said.
Parpiglia added that many opponents of the Electoral College have argued that with the current system to determine the presidency, voters have little incentive to vote in states that are almost guaranteed to go Democratic or Republican.
"I probably didn't seek out information on absentee ballots as much as I could have, but it doesn't make a difference at this point," he said. "I would have voted for Kerry, and he's going to carry New York State. The last election proved that it's all up to the Electoral College, and the popular vote doesn't matter. Knowing this, why bother to vote?"
Most students who did vote in the Student Union, via absentee ballot, or at a different location said it was a smooth process in which they encountered little or no problems.
"I voted at the polls and I had no problems whatsoever," said Lauren Ilecki, a freshman pharmacy major. "It was a smooth operation in general and there didn't seem to be any problems at all."
Ryan Kelly, a junior business major, echoed Ilecki's satisfaction with the polling process on Nov. 2.
"I also voted at the polls today, and they seemed to have everything under control there," Kelly said. "I didn't see anyone with a problem when I voted."
Lauren Chinchen, a sophomore exercise science major, chose to vote by absentee ballot.
"I got all my forms in time and sent them in a week ago," Chinchen said. "I know some people encountered problems like not getting their absentee ballot in time, but I had no problems whatsoever."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
