Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush may be neck and neck in the polls, but who wins the presidential seat all comes down to who votes.

With five weeks left until Election Day, some students may have to decide between casting absentee ballots to their home districts or to changing their voter registration to State College.

In order to vote absentee in the presidential, state and local elections -- to vote for those running for office in a home state or city government without physically traveling there -- students have to obtain an application from the county in which they are registered to vote.

After applying for the absentee ballot, the county will mail out the form. It is a fairly easy process, contend Joyce McKinley, director of elections and voter registration for Centre County, and Justin Zartman (junior-political science), a town senator in the Undergraduate Student Government.

"It's a process. . . It's not a difficult form," Zartman said.

The reasons for voting absentee vary according to the individual student. Zartman, who changed his registration, used to vote absentee because he worked for the politicians of his hometown and was more familiar with them than with those in State College.

McKinley's views complemented Zartman's sentiment. "They probably feel they know the candidates in their hometown . . .The problem is to get people out there (to vote in general)," McKinley said.

A Web site called Election.com makes the process of obtaining an absentee ballot less difficult by eliminating paperwork. "One option is to contact their local county courthouse. . .or they can go to Election.com," said Stephanie Wood (junior-economics), governmental relations director in the executive branch of USG.

Deadlines vary from state to state to fill out the application via the Web site and for states to receive them. Deadlines for filling out the application online range from Oct. 3 to Oct. 30.

At Election.com, people can fill out the online form, print it out, and then mail it to the address listed. There, students can also obtain the numbers of county offices across the nation in order to call to obtain a ballot.

Wood and Zartman, however, recommended registering to vote in State College.

"Here, they'll be voting for local politicians. These are the politicians that can make more of a difference in their lives," Wood said.

McKinley urged students to vote. "I can't figure why you register and not vote," she said. "Cast that ballot."