Students Turn Out Big at the University of Michigan

U Michigan – Across this college campus in Ann Arbor, students have turned out in big numbers to make their voices heard this election. Volunteers on the ground have said that most students who came out to vote today waited a minimum of one and a half hours on line, and that most have waited around three hours before they got to cast their vote.

A few minutes ago, I spoke with two University of Michigan students who are helping their classmates weather the long lines. Christine Firlik and Josh Strazanac are volunteers with Voice Your Vote, a voting advocacy organization at this school that helps students register to vote, gives students a bipartisan view of the candidates' positions, and encourages students to get out and vote.

All day today, they've gone out of their way to help students turn the long waits into parties. Strazanac, Firlik, and other Voice Your Voter volunteers have purchased food, hula hoops, newspapers, and magazines, to encourage people to wait out the long lines.

U Michigan has five polling places on its campus, many located within residence halls, where students who live on campus can vote. Firlik and Strazanac have spent a large portion of their day helping students out at Mary Markley Residence Hall.

Strazanac says that there are more than 400 students are waiting to vote right now on a single line that stretches outside the building. He's been doing his part to stir up excitement.

"We've been handing out water, we've got crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, we're doing everything we can to keep the students in the line so that they don't give up on making sure that they vote this election," Strazanac says. "I don't think any of these students particularly anticipated that they would wait in line for three hours, and when you ask somebody to stand in line for that long, it's important to help them pass the time."

Strazanac says that Markley Hall is mostly home to freshmen, and that they face a big obstacle the first time they vote.

"With the excitement this election has generated, it's unfortunate that these students will have to wait three hours in line, and I think this will deter some students from voting tonight," he says.

Many students have had to take midterm exams and go back to class today after waiting on line for a long time, although many have returned to have their chance to vote.

Markley Hall currently has eight voting machines students can use once they reach the end of the line, although Voice Your Vote had to call the city clerk to procure four of these machines earlier in the day.

Firlik says U Michigan's students have defied the expectations of some who did not believe young Americans would turn out in the big numbers that have been hyped.

"It's pretty incredible. The lines are crazy, but it's so exciting because it means students are actually voting," Firlik says. "I think that they really knocked the socks off the people who planned for these voting places because, especially at Markley, it's really overwhelming."

Polls in Michigan close at 9:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

-- Written by Howie Perlman