NOVEMBER 14, 2018 | VOLUME 89, ISSUE 12
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
OPINION: MASS SHOOTINGS P. 6
ARTS & LIFE: FRIENDSGIVING P. 12
SPORTS: RUGBY ADVANCES P. 14
DESIGN BY JANNA MARNELL
A surge of women have been elected into political leadership positions after the 2018 Midterm Elections. •••
Read more on women in leadership on page 8 & 9
Students struggle at the polls College students in the New Haven and Hamden area were excited to turn out to vote this Election Day, but long lines and confusion about registration were among the obstacles that prohibited local millennials from casting their votes.
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Voters were told to ‘go home’ as they were ‘not guaranteed to be able to vote’ should the polls close. ing they registered to vote and were not reg- that mentioned that to us to tried and figure istered to vote when they showed up to vote, out where the issue lied,” Pezzella said. “It that’s obviously a problem.” was always with the student except in one inAlthough many students faced issues try- cident where the student [Iasso] changed their ing to register to vote the day of, some students address and their address was not reflected also faced issues registering weeks before. when they went to the polling location. Every “I submitted a change of address form other student that we’ve heard from had an isthrough the voter registration drive, who then sue that was their fault in registering to vote.” submitted to the town of Hamden’s registrars of Voters,” senior higher education leaderIn New Haven ship major Joe Iasso said of his voting exQuinnipiac students were not the only perience. “It was not processed even though college students in Connecticut who had difit was submitted well before the deadline. ficulties voting this Election Day. Students Luckily I was permitted to vote using my old at Yale University experienced several elecaddress [Mt. Carmel campus].” tion obstacles outside of their control that Despite Iasso’s issues with registering may have unintentionally disenfranchised through Quinnipiac, Pezzella felt that many of student votes in the area. the complications students faced were issues Jordan Cozby, junior Yale student and that could have been avoided. president of the Yale Democrats and Yale “We have followed up with every student Votes organization says that a number of
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“The fact that we even have to register to vote in this country is a form of voter suppression,” Director of Campus Life for Fraternity and Sorority Life at Quinnipiac Katherine Pezzella said. “It puts that one more barrier for someone being able to wake up on election day and go vote and someone who has to do all of this work in advance to make sure they’re okay to go vote.” Pezzella spearheaded alongside the Student Government Association (SGA) the initiatives at Quinnipiac to encourage students to go to the polls. Pezzella and SGA held tabling events in the weeks leading up to Nov. 6, to help students register and prepare for Election Day. Pezzella says the fact that there is so many options for college students to register can actually make the process more confusing. Students in Connecticut have the option to register at home and travel home to vote, register as a Hamden resident and vote here or order an absentee ballot. All three of these options involve planning and extensive knowledge of local deadlines. “I had a lot of students email me, call me with questions about how to vote, where to vote, if they thought they had registered, why when they showed if they were not registered,” Pezzella said. “That caused a lot of concern for us obviously. If students were say-
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problems led to the confusion that Yale students experienced at the polls. The confusion started long before Election Day, however. While students at Quinnipiac were able to request absentee ballots, this option was less appealing to Yale students who do not have free access to PO boxes said Cozby. “In theory, you’re supposed to pay 80 dollars for a PO box, like the Post Office,” Cozby said. “For people who the only mail they receive would be their absentee ballot, expecting them to pay 80 dollars for a PO box is like a crazy poll tax and an issue.” As a result, many Yale students decided to go to the polls on Election Day by registering to vote as a Connecticut citizen regardless of their home address. These students were met with even more obstacles starting with where they needed to report to vote. “The polling place lines were different for state and federal elections in 2018 than for ward races in 2017,” Cozby said. According to Cozby, the notification about the new voting locations were very last minute. “Everyone pretty much knows ‘If I live in Ward One, I go vote at the library and if I live in Ward 22 I’m supposed to go at Wexler Grant School,’” Cozby said. “I guess because it’s not a city election, two days before the election we were all made aware of the fact that they weren’t using those lines.” The second major issue was registration. In Connecticut, citizens are allowed to register on Election Day. Due to high turnout for these contentious elections, the lines for same-day registration were long and understaffed. See VOTING Page 4
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INDEX
By EMILY DISALVO & JESSICA RUDERMAN
Interactive: 5 Opinion: 6 Arts and Life: 8 Sports: 13