City preps for primary crowds
Colin Chazen
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Campus News
Facing a competitive presidential primary, Rhode Islanders are expected to vote in record numbers today.
The record turnout could create problems as cities and towns across the state have closed more than 80 polling centers since the 2004 primary, when only 6.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots, according to a Feb. 27 article in the Providence Journal.
But a Providence election official says he does not expect there to be any problems.
"We're ready," said Laurence Flynn, executive secretary of the Providence Board of Canvassers. "At the last moment, we made the necessary steps to make it easier for the voter to not get jammed up in lines."
The original plans for the primary were laid out months in advance, Flynn said, and had to be revised at the last minute when it became clear that voter turnout would be higher than usual.
At each polling center in Providence, there will now be a monitor to help organize lines and direct voters to the correct polling sites, something the city has never done before, Flynn said. Additional set-up crews will also be used to ensure polls open on time, he said.
Still, the closed sites may create difficulties for voters.
"Now that people are going to turn out in record-high numbers, polling place confusion this Tuesday will be inevitable," Ariel Werner '09, a coordinator for Students for Barack Obama, wrote in an e-mail.
On Providence's East Side, three districts, including the one that represents Brown, have been merged together into a single site, Flynn said. The Salomon Center will be the polling site for the combined 2,501 registered voters from the three districts.
Voter turnout in the city of Providence could double from the 8,000 in the 2004 presidential primary election to close to 16,000 this year, but a rain forecast might reduce those numbers, Flynn said.
Flynn said he expects voter turnout in Brown's district to be especially high, though many students are registered to vote in their home states.
The record turnout could create problems as cities and towns across the state have closed more than 80 polling centers since the 2004 primary, when only 6.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots, according to a Feb. 27 article in the Providence Journal.
But a Providence election official says he does not expect there to be any problems.
"We're ready," said Laurence Flynn, executive secretary of the Providence Board of Canvassers. "At the last moment, we made the necessary steps to make it easier for the voter to not get jammed up in lines."
The original plans for the primary were laid out months in advance, Flynn said, and had to be revised at the last minute when it became clear that voter turnout would be higher than usual.
At each polling center in Providence, there will now be a monitor to help organize lines and direct voters to the correct polling sites, something the city has never done before, Flynn said. Additional set-up crews will also be used to ensure polls open on time, he said.
Still, the closed sites may create difficulties for voters.
"Now that people are going to turn out in record-high numbers, polling place confusion this Tuesday will be inevitable," Ariel Werner '09, a coordinator for Students for Barack Obama, wrote in an e-mail.
On Providence's East Side, three districts, including the one that represents Brown, have been merged together into a single site, Flynn said. The Salomon Center will be the polling site for the combined 2,501 registered voters from the three districts.
Voter turnout in the city of Providence could double from the 8,000 in the 2004 presidential primary election to close to 16,000 this year, but a rain forecast might reduce those numbers, Flynn said.
Flynn said he expects voter turnout in Brown's district to be especially high, though many students are registered to vote in their home states.