April 24, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Most Pennsylvania polling stations will have older adults to help people through the voting process. 

For the polling station in the HUB-Robeson Center in Hetzel Lounge and across Centre County, some high school seniors from Bellefonte Area High School watch over voters as part of an election day program, said BAHS Ed Fitzgerald, social studies teacher. He said the program has been going on for about 15 years and has given students hands-on experience.

Each year, more and more students get involved with the program, which teaches them about the behind-the-scenes work of getting ready for an election day, he said.

Fitzgerald said the program is a good way to start getting students involved in the political process at an early age.

“It’s a great experience, and it’s better than sitting in a boring classroom and hearing about it,” he said.

Gabby Coll, a senior at BAHS, said that there was a lot of work involved in preparing for the day, including filling out paper work and setting out more paper work. She said the amount of record-keeping for the day was a lot to keep track.

“Some of the paper work gets tedious, but I understand why that have all of it,” she said.

But she said she was going to try to have fun today.

Not all students that are in the lounge are in high school, though. Penn State student Owen Gray decided to take the day from his classes to volunteer at the polls.

Gray (freshman-energy business and finance) said he was volunteering because he can’t actually vote in the primary due to Pennsylvania’s closed primary system.

“If anyone wants to see their candidate make it through, it’s their responsibility to see it through and vote,” he said.