Deadlines approaching as election heats up

    If you’re a procrastinator, then you better start thinking about getting around to registering to vote.  

Pennsylvania voters must register by Monday, Oct. 6, or they will not be able to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election without a provisional ballot. Absentee voters have until Oct. 28 to submit their applications to the county board where they intend to vote.

    Voters in Pennsylvania are no longer able to register to vote on Election Day, as in previous elections, said the Allegheny County Election Board.

    Now, the only change that voters can make on Election Day is a switch in polling places by court order if the voter has moved recently. This is only applicable if the voter was not able to change his registration before Oct. 6, according to the Allegheny County Election Board.

    The Election Board encourages absentee voters to submit applications before Oct. 28 to allow enough time for the ballots to arrive. The Election Board must receive absentee ballots by 5 p.m.  Oct. 31.

    The Election Board also encourages voters to check their ID cards and be certain of their assigned polling place.

    Currently, there are about 10,000 more registered voters in Allegheny County than there were in the record turnout of the 2004 election. There are more than 40,000 more than there were in the midterm election of 2006.

    Pitt sophomore Matt Sniscak is registered and ready to vote.

    “The last two [elections] seemed tight, but this one is different, with the first female vice presidential candidate and the first black presidential candidate,” said Sniscak.

    Shannon Martin, co-coordinator of the Student Vote Coalition, a nonpartisan group that supports student voting, urged more students to register.   

    “I definitely think that it is more important than previous years to get out and help people register,” she said.

    The Student Vote Coalition will be holding a get-out-the-vote event tonight in the William Pitt Union ballroom from 5:30 to 8:30 to attempt more large-scale registrations, said Martin.

    Also, it will be stepping up efforts to get clearance to register students in the classroom, according to Martin.

    The group registered more than 800 students on Pitt’s campus between Freshman Move-In Day and the last week of August.

    The Pennsylvania League of Young Voters, another nonpartisan group on campus that encourages youth involvement in the democratic process, has registered around 100 students on campus.

    However, the group set its sights on broader goals, according to the group’s field organizer for Western Pennsylvania, Terry Grissin.

    “We’re trying for rural areas, community colleges and other areas that the bigger groups tend to miss,” said Grissin.

    The group registered more than 500 voters at the Allegheny County jail, said Grissin.

    According to the Department of State’s Convicted Felon Brochure, detainees awaiting trial and inmates convicted of misdemeanors are permitted to vote.