The polling place for Princeton Borough District 1, which encompasses Wilson College and most of the Princeton campus north of Wilson, is Trinity Church Parish House. The church is located west of Holder Hall on Mercer Street on the extreme northwest edge of District 1, an area to which few students ever venture. For students living in Wilson, voting may require 30 minutes of walking roundtrip. Since Borough residents are so incensed about the University moving the Dinky an extra 400 feet south, surely they can sympathize with the plight of students who live far away from their polling station.
As of 2007, 91.7 percent of the voters registered in District 1 lived in University dormitories and an additional 4.1 percent were affiliated with the University. P-Votes, Whig-Clio, the College Republicans and the College Democrats are supporting a proposal to move the polling station onto campus. Before next year's election, the Borough should relocate the polling station to a more central location that will be more convenient for the vast majority of registered voters. If the most sensible locations are on campus, the University should ensure that adequate polling space is made available on Election Day.
Additionally, the University also can help facilitate voting for students who are registered in other districts. The Graduate College, for example, is located on the extreme southern end of District 7, far removed from the District 7 polling place behind Borough Hall on Stockton Street. The University should consider providing shuttles on Election Day next time around to take students living in the Graduate College to vote.
Students are just as much residents of the Borough as anyone else living there. Students are subjected to Borough policies and make up a significant portion of the Borough population. They deserve to have their voices heard and easy access to polling stations. While all students registered in the Borough should endure the current inconvenience and vote, the appropriate authorities should work together to ensure that in future elections students have an easier time participating in this most important democratic process.
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