Students at Black Univ. Had to Wait 5-7 Hrs. to Vote; GOP Refused to Move Polling to Larger Building

[JPZenger]

The following articles and video describe how students at predominantely African American Lincoln University in the Philadelphia suburbs had to wait from 5 to 7 hours to vote, including the last couple hours in the rain. The Democratic Party had asked the County Commissioners 2 months ago to move the polling place from a small building to the large University gym, but the move was rejected 2-1 by the 2 Republican County Commissioners.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20081106_College_students_persevered_to_vote.html

Nov. 6, 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer

Excerpts:

"The average time in line at their off-campus precinct in Lower Oxford Township was five and a half hours, according to some students. "It was a travesty," said Michele Vaughn, chairwoman of the Chester County Democratic Committee. "But the kids stayed in line. Their resolve was remarkable."

In September, when presented with a petition from several residents, Farrell and fellow Republican Commissioner Carol Aichele voted against moving the precinct to the gym on the Lincoln University campus, where voters could wait indoors and where there is plenty of parking.

Democratic County Commissioner Kathy Cozzone, who supported moving the polls, said that no matter how many voters show up, the current polling place is unsafe. It's on a narrow road next to railroad tracks and has no place to park. "I thought we should have moved that precinct for a number of reasons," she said. Lincoln University president Ivory V. Nelson said that the university had agreed to the change but that the county commissioners had rejected it.

According to unofficial returns 1,462 ballots were cast ...1,300 - were cast for Barack Obama... "

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Video of the matter from the ABC station in Philadelphia:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6490963
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http://nfibelection2008.illumen.org/newsArticle.jsf?documentId=2c9e4f691d6b745c011d6be984a20092
Excerpts:

"By the time Kenneth Cullen, 52, cast the last ballot at 10:52 p.m., the networks already had declared Sen. Barack Obama the winner in Pennsylvania.
It had been a long, long day -- and night -- at the east precinct polling place in Chester County's Lower Oxford Township. Hundreds of people, most of them Lincoln University students, waited in line for as long as seven hours to vote.

The polling place, about a mile from Lincoln, is in a cramped community center with seven booths and one optical scanning machine, through which all ballots had to be processed. A petition filed with the Chester County Board of Elections to transfer the polling site to Lincoln University was denied on Sept. 16.

The petition argued that the location of the polling place "disenfranchises, among others, students at Lincoln University, a majority of whom are African American. This constitutes a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act."

About 350 people were still in line at 8 p.m., when the polls were scheduled to close. A total of 1,440 ended up voting by 10:52. "Our gym would have been great," she added. "Now look what everyone had to go through. I saw people who had to leave before they voted. They had classes." Bryan Taylor, 19 ...came to the community center to vote at noon. They finally voted at 7:15 p.m." "

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Here's a September 28, 2008 article from the Daily Local newspaper about the failed attempt by Democrats to move the polling place to the University's large gym.

wwww.dailylocal.com

"The petitioners, who included both Lincoln students and township residents, said the current facilities have proven to be too small and inaccessible. There are safety issues that stem from voters waiting in line in the center's parking lot...Explaining their positions against the move, Aichele and Farrell cited a myriad of problems ... Farrell said township voters he had spoken with said they would not feel welcome at the school ...

... Cozzone said she was very concerned about the safety issue at the current polling place, which puts voters outside in the parking lot and forces them to park along the roadside because of the center's paucity of parking spaces. She rejected Farrell's complaint about a lack of time to notify voters of a change, noting that the trio had earlier approved changes at five other precincts.

...In general, the board grants precinct changes if all of the committee people from the two parties agree and a new location that meets requirements from the county Office of Voters Services is found. In this case, Farrell — a GOP committeeman from the precinct — objected, as did other voters from the township. Those voters, represented by Curt Norcini, an assistant solicitor from the Chester County Republican Committee ... said the Lincoln gymnasium was an inadequate alternative because it is "unfamiliar and potentially confusing" to township voters. He said the parking lot was too far from the actual voting site and could be "intimidating" for voters."