Centre County precincts saw 26 percent of registered voters visit the polls Tuesday, a low but expected turnout for the 2009 municipal elections.
About 26,000 of 98,678 registered voters in the county showed up at the polls, while 3,602 out of 30,813 registered voters in State College -- or 11.69 percent -- cast votes.
Although students walked through the HUB-Robeson Center all day, only 201 stopped to vote, leaving the Paul Robeson Cultural Center's Heritage Hall empty for long stretches of time.
The State College Borough Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St., had 109 voters, which precinct workers said was five percent of registered voters for that location. Elizabeth Goreham won the position of State College mayor, with Stacy Parks Miller taking the win for district attorney.
Centre County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jon Eich said the statewide voting average was 26 percent, a point above the expected 25 percent.
"That's the kind of turnout you get for races that are mostly local in nature," Eich said.
Dianne Gregg, chairwoman of the Centre County Democrats, said it was "absolutely certain" that voting this year would be low because the local election follows a presidential election year.
More residents than students came out to vote in State College, she said.
"I think students don't see the connection to their own lives, which is unfortunate," she said. "In the district attorney and mayor race, there is a direct connection to students' lives."
Eich said if more students had voted, Goreham's and Parks Miller's margins of victory would likely have been more lopsided.
Jessica Pellicciotta, president of Penn State College Democrats, said the district attorney and State College mayor races were the main contests that drew people to vote.
Samuel Settle, executive director of Penn State College Republicans and student campaign manager for Joe Wakeley, was pleased that 200 voters turned out at the HUB. Settle (sophomore-political science and history) campaigned outside several locations, including the HUB and the State College Borough Municipal Building, for Republican mayoral candidate Joe Wakeley.
"There were a number of students who weren't even intending to vote today until we gave them material and asked them to vote for Wakeley," Settle said. He added that several students at the HUB changed their vote from Goreham to Wakeley when they saw that Wakeley was there greeting them personally.
Myles Koven (junior-political science and history) said he wasn't sure how close the mayoral race would be, speculating that since the late mayor Bill Welch passed away recently, not many people may have known about the candidates' positions.
Even though not many students voted, many of those who did felt it was important to let their voices be heard.
"If you don't vote, you don't have a voice," said Diego Morales (senior-biochemistry and molecular biology) "It was true last year, and it's true now."
