November 6, 2012 at 2:12 PM

Mid-day voting is calm before the storm at College Heights Elementary School.

While students at College Heights Elementary School, 721 N. Atherton St., will not be able to vote in today’s election, their classrooms and hallways will be filled with hundreds of workers and voters who will let their voice be heard as they help choose the next president of the United States. For now, though, the building is at its quietest.

Ruth Merritt, judge of elections for precinct 17, said that by 1 p.m., 285 votes had been calculated at the school, about 40 percent of the predicted turnout.

“It’s a bit of a smaller turnout from the last president election,” Merritt said.

That election ended with 539 votes from the more than 700 registered voters in the precinct, Merritt said.

This afternoon, the hallways were very quiet, but Merritt said she wasn’t worried.

“Most of our voters come out between 4 and 7 p.m.,” Merritt said.

For Merritt, this day is busier than the average workday. After the polls close at 8 p.m., Merritt and volunteers will process absentee ballots, count individual ballots cast today and check spoil ballots before sealing these results and taking them to Bellefonte, Merritt said.

“I probably won’t get back home until 10:30 p.m.,” Merritt said.

Still, the excitement of the election makes the long day worth it, she said.

“It’s important to have your voice be heard,” she said.