All Quiet at GW Polling Place

In continuing election coverage here at WRGW, our very own campus polling place at the Smith Center was rather calm yesterday, with none of the hour-long lines that some of our professors had to endure in Virginia and Maryland. Voters did not report any problems with the machines, and the only thing remotely unpleasant about the day was the steady drizzle of rain that persisted all morning.
The steady trickle of individuals coming to the Smith Center to vote seemed to be mostly employees of local government buildings.

Daniela Karlin, a graduate student at the Elliot School, was standing on the corner of 22^nd and G streets from 12 noon to 4 pm, handing out fliers with numbers to call if you need a volunteer-organized ride to your polling place or if you see someone’s voting rights being violated. Karlin reported that many of the students she spoke with had already voted via absentee ballot, and most of those students had voted for Barack Obama.
Karlin also was handing out fliers reminding voters that they would have to cover up their campaign shirts or buttons inside the polling place, but that they could not be denied the right to vote on account of wearing campaign apparel. She expressed excitement about the election, and cautious optimism about Barack Obama’s chances of winning, citing the Bradley effect as a possible distortion of the various national polls.

- Monika Wysocki