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Droves of voters stay late to cast ballots at Auraria
By Lou Christopher and Michael Godfrey
achris25@mscd.edu • mgodfre3@mscd.edu

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu Denver county residents stand in the halls of the historic Tivoli building at Auraria awaiting the opportunity to vote in the election on Nov. 7. Lines at the voting center reached almost 300 people at times, with waiting times of up to three hours. A reported 1,176 voters cast their ballots in the Tivoli Multicultural Lounge from 7 a.m. to approximately 10 p.m. At a rate of about 100 voters per hour the wait ebbed, flowed and overflowed during the rush hour after 4 p.m.

Auraria campus hosted 1,176 voters on Nov. 7, according to the Denver Election Commission, as citizens lined up in the Tivoli for one of the biggest voter turnouts in city history.

Chaos consumed most of the day, with long lines and a citywide server crash adding to the disorganization.

UCD student government member Melanie Gann helped organize the voting center and made sure the long lines and confusion were not too much for the voters to handle.

“Were trying to keep the students happy so they stay in line,” Gann said as people in line complained of long waits and not knowing where to go.

Gann and other volunteers passed out treats and said words of encouragement to those standing in line, some who had to wait more than two hours to vote.

“This is the first time we have had a vote center at the Auraria Campus,” said Sandy Adams, a Denver election commissioner. “The system is in its infancy.”

Adams said reasons for the long lines included some students who had never voted before, some who didn’t realize the procedures for voting and others who just didn’t know when a good time to vote was.

“You can’t expect to go into a high traffic area like this and be done in 15 minutes. Students should research the whole process and learn about what the different options for voting are, like absentee or early voting,” she said.

The Denver election commission sent out about 72,000 absentee ballots and had about 25,000 early voters, Adams said.

Not all voters agreed with Adams about knowing what to do.

“It’s ridiculous that we have to wait this long to vote. It should be the easiest thing a citizen in this democratic country does,” UCD student Erika Moore said. “I will be sure to vote early in the next election.”

The long wait proved to be too much for some people.

“A lot of people were asking how long it was going to be and then not voting because they had to work,” Metro student Michael Evans said.

The city’s server crash, which happened around 5 p.m., only added to the problems.

“The lines were brutally long,” said Dolores Hernandez, a Metro student. “Since the computer systems went down, a lot of people left.”

The UCD student government organized the voting center to make voting easier for students at Auraria.

“We wanted to increase student involvement in politics and have politicians taking students seriously,” Gann said. “We really wanted to make it convenient for more students to vote.”

“The cool thing about it (the new polling centers) is I can vote anywhere … but it is discouraging to wait in line for three hours to vote,” said Benjamin Romero, a voter at the Tivoli.

Students came to the polls for a number of reasons.

“44, you definitely have to vote for that,” said Ryan Valderrama, a Metro student.

Valderrama also said Referendum I was important to him because he believes in basic civil rights.

Referendum I and Amendment 44 were mentioned by the majority of students who were asked about issues that brought them to the polls.

One of the last people to cast his vote at the Tivoli was James Boswell. Arriving right before the 7 p.m. deadline, Boswell stood in line for almost three hours and was happy to finally cast his vote.

“I learned my lesson,” Boswell said. “I’ll cast an absentee ballot next time.”