A desolate aura permeated from empty voting stations across town and campus yesterday.

In the basement of the Wesley Student Center, 256 E. College Ave., Judge of Elections Donna Brooks spearheaded a team of four anxious women waiting for registered voters in Precinct 28 to fill their ballots.

"It's really been quiet," Brooks said.

Brooks said more than 1,600 people were registered to vote this year. But she expected a small amount of those registered to make it to the polls.

"In the couple years I've been doing this, we'd be shocked if we had more than 20 to 25 people vote all day," she said.

About 28 percent of registered voters in Centre County turned out for yesterday's municipal election, with 24,942 out of 88,804 registered voters appearing at the polls.

Although Brooks said turnout is consistently low for local elections, she has one idea to entice more voters.

"We have a bunch of food in the other room there," she said. "Maybe if put up a sign saying 'free food,' more people will stop in."

Voters gave explanations for the low turnout, some claiming the media's coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent military action in Afghanistan clouded the publicity a normal election would receive.

Across town in the same room where the State College Borough Council meets, voters in Precinct 34 chose the next council members. Torae Gill, judge of elections for the precinct, looked over a list of more than 1,500 registered voters.

Gill said that during a past local election, no more than 30 people voted for area officials. At this precinct, almost all of registered voters are college students living between College and Fairmount Avenues. In the years he has worked as an elections official, Gill has noted a changing demographic trend pertaining to the residency parameters of Precinct 34.

"We used to have a lot of retired people registered to vote here, but they all moved out," he said.

Despite the large amount of registered voters in the precinct, Gill does not expect many students to vote this year.

"Students try to get Penn State to solve their problems," Gill said. "They don't want to vote because they'll be out of town in months."

Inside the HUB-Robeson Center, where precincts 24, 25, 27 and 33 had 2,500 registered voters, the majority of the crowd was reading and studying, oblivious of the election polls in Heritage Hall.

Mike Fazio (senior-political science) was surprised about the minimal amount of student voters.

"I think last fall's presidential elections should have (increased voter turnout), but because of the events of Sept. 11, attention has been diverted elsewhere," Fazio said. "Had Sept. 11 not occurred, the partisan spirit would still be here."

Others pointed the blame elsewhere.

"I don't think that half of the people around here knew that there was an election," said Matt Brown (senior-finance).

Others are voting because they said the results will directly affect them.

"I've always voted in big elections, but as an undergraduate, I never voted here," Jason Graci (graduate-biochemistry and molecular biology). "But now that I am going to be here another three or four years, I may as well."

Graci is proud of the patriotism citizens are displaying, but thinks national pride runs deeper than hanging flags on balconies and car antennas.

"It's pretty poor that everyone shows patriotism, but no one comes out and votes," he said.