The 2017 Ames mayoral election yielded 8,124 votes. Out of 60,679 registered voters in Story county, 10,675 people voted, or 17.59 percent.
Daily reporters visited seven precincts where Iowa State students typically vote — the Fire Service Training Bureau, Ames Middle School, Collegiate United Methodist Church, Buchanan Hall, Maple Hall, Union Drive Community Center and the Collegiate Presbyterian Church — to get a feel for the student turnout.
Arlene Boyington, a polling official at the Fire Service Training Bureau felt the turnout increased for her precinct.
“It seemed like a heavier year voting wise,” Boyington said. “It’s good to see students getting involved in local election.”
By around 7 p.m., they had 404 voters and estimated that 50 of them were students.
Even those who did not pay attention throughout the mayoral and City Council race were able to quickly do their research and vote.
“We had a couple [of students] went out, did some research and came back,” said Carolyn Klaus, polling official at the Union Drive Community Center.
With only a few hours left before the polls closed, the UDCC saw 26 voters while Maple Hall had 15 and Buchanan Hall had 62. These precincts saw mainly students.
The Collegiate Presbyterian Church had 358 people vote and estimated there were 50 students and about 20 were undergraduates.
Some polling officials had plenty of down time in between waves of voters. At Ames Middle School, which had 72 voters estimating less the 50 percent being students, polling officials said they had plenty of down time.
Some read — featured books include “Bottomland,” “Gather the Daughters,” “Orphan Train” — while others found other activities to occupy their time.
At the Collegiate United Methodist Church, where 122 votes were cast with an hour left, one polling official knitted and another filled out a stock portfolio. They estimated between a third and a half of voters were students.
