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US mid-term elections: North Carolina ballot box battle
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29766398
This hub of activity [Appalachian State University] had since 2006 been the location of a polling station for national elections, easily accessible for the 18,000 people who studied here.
The local elections board decided to remove ballot boxes from campus for this year's election, leaving the university without a site for early voting.
...But many argued the reason behind the changes was a partisan one. Nationally, the majority of students tend to vote Democrat, and Democrats elsewhere in North Carolina, and around the country, complain that Republicans are trying to make it harder for students to vote.
"It is political, there's no other explanation than an agenda," said Stella Anderson, a Democrat who used to sit on the county elections board. She saw the move as an effort by the Republicans to suppress the student vote.
More than 5,000 people voted early on the campus site in the 2012 presidential race, so the loss of a voting site could have an impact on turnout, which would disproportionately depress the Democratic vote and could decide a close race...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29766398
This hub of activity [Appalachian State University] had since 2006 been the location of a polling station for national elections, easily accessible for the 18,000 people who studied here.
The local elections board decided to remove ballot boxes from campus for this year's election, leaving the university without a site for early voting.
...But many argued the reason behind the changes was a partisan one. Nationally, the majority of students tend to vote Democrat, and Democrats elsewhere in North Carolina, and around the country, complain that Republicans are trying to make it harder for students to vote.
"It is political, there's no other explanation than an agenda," said Stella Anderson, a Democrat who used to sit on the county elections board. She saw the move as an effort by the Republicans to suppress the student vote.
More than 5,000 people voted early on the campus site in the 2012 presidential race, so the loss of a voting site could have an impact on turnout, which would disproportionately depress the Democratic vote and could decide a close race...
