(Unfortunately I didn't create an account for this blogger, Joseph Hegarty, but here is his account from today's action. - Dan P.)
As I boarded the southbound Broad Street line on my way to see how this year's election was doing, I really had no idea what I would find. As the subway screeched to a halt at the Lombard-South station I began to think about what I was about to see. Much to my surprise I was greeted with a number of volunteers ready to help me find the information I needed.
I was directed to Ms. Carlie Seltzer a voting official who was more than happy to answer any questions that I had.
I started off asking her how the voting process was going so far. She replied that it was a big turnout for her district that in the 10 years she has been working elections averages around a 5% turnout from registered voters. She says that such low numbers are expected since a majority of her voters are students from colleges around the city. As of about 5 o'clock the district had recorded a little over 13% of their registered voters coming in to vote. Despite the high turnout for this one location, City wide voter turnout overall has been extremely low.
She also said that most of the Republicans in her district are always there to vote, trying to make a difference, but since in the wide view of things they don't make much of a difference at all given the city's highly democratic beliefs.
Walking away from this experience I realized that one party politics makes for a very dull Election Day, and that the only way to really entice voters out to their local polling place is to offer the voters a real race.
Joseph Hegarty, is a senior at Temple University and a member of the TV News Reporting Class. His assignment included measuring turnout at specific locations and soliciting insights from volunteers on the nature of city politics.