A low number of ISU students voted in Iowa primary elections at polling locations around the university.

“Whenever we have a primary election, ISU is not in session so we have very low numbers in those precincts,” said Lucy Martin, Story County auditor. “That doesn’t mean students that are here for the summer aren’t voting, it’s just hard to identify them as ISU students.”

Many of the election observers throughout the ISU campus precincts had very similar voting attendance throughout the day. The polls at Maple Hall had only reported one voter as of 5:45 p.m.

Election observers at Maple Hall kept themselves busy by reading magazines while waiting for voters to show up.

“We wish we had some jigsaw puzzles,” said Dee Dreeszen, an election observer.

The election observers at Union Drive Community Center reported zero voters as of 5 p.m.

“The people that vote in this precinct live in Helser and Friley [halls] only. Friley is closed for renovation and Helser is virtually empty, so there’s no students available to vote,” said election observer Chelly Kenney.

Matt Reeve, senior in accounting, works at the Union Drive Community Center. He said he knew about the primaries but did not vote.

“I don’t want to make an uninformed decision,” Reeve said. “I would have to research the candidates more.”  

Election observer Joyce Carney said she predicted to see one or two voters by the time the polls closed at 9 p.m. Observers at Union Drive Community Center kept themselves busy with magazines and crossword puzzles.

Joyce said every 20 minutes, the lights would turn off and one of the election observers would have to go over to the motion sensor to turn them back on.

The polls at St. John’s by the Campus Church were not much different, with only 8 reported voters as of 5:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping to break double digits,” said election observer Jan Bauer. “This is a local race and that never seems to generate the interest in students. Perhaps students are less likely to declare a party these days.”

Although the student population represented in the polls is substantially low, observers continually encourage students to become more educated and to get involved with the elections.

The Collegiate United Methodist Church location had more voters in general, but student outcome was still low. It had a reported 36 voters as of 5:15 p.m. with only one of them being a student.

“I think the students here have been educated well enough to know that if you don’t take the time to learn about who the candidates are, don’t bother voting because then you’re just marking ovals on a sheet of paper,” said election observer, Paul Osterholt.

The Collegiate Presbyterian Church accumulated the most votes of the the on- or near-campus polling locations. It reported 130 voters as of 6 p.m., but it estimated that only four of them were from the student population.

Even though the student population has a significantly low representation in this election, there are still a few that believe it is important to get involved.

Tyler VonWeihe, graduate student in civil, construction and environmental engineering, said he thinks students often feel like their votes don’t really have much meaning.

“I think it’s a civic duty,” VonWeihe said. “For a democracy to work, everyone needs to put in their opinion on who they think would be the best upcoming leaders. I feel like it’s kind of irresponsible if you don’t put in your input. It’s hard to complain if you don’t do anything about it.”