Mix-up could leave students without vote

Several students who filled out state voter registration forms at CUPID this fall have discovered that they were never registered to vote in today's elections, the result of an apparent mix-up in the mailing of registration forms. It could not be determined whether the mix-up affected one batch or all of the CUPID voter registration forms. At least eight students who completed registration forms at CUPID said yesterday that they were never notified by the state that their application had been received. Four of them had called Voter Registration and discovered that they are not on voter rolls. Voters who were officially registered were sent confirmation notices by mail. Maccolier and Reserve Officer Training Corps instructors, who organized CUPID voter registration this year, gave different explanations yesterday of how the registrations were mailed. Maccolier said that ROTC workers mailed the registrations. But Master Sergeant Don Ruff said that he put them in a box each evening for CUPID workers to pick up and mail. He said yesterday that one day, he and Master Sergeant Steve Nord saw a CUPID worker carry the registrations away. Maccolier said later that although he did not remember CUPID workers mailing voter registrations, it is possible that they did. Bob Lee, an election finance document specialist, said that Pennsylvania law mandates that voters must be mailed confirmation of receipt of their application within 48 hours of its arrival at the Voter Registration office. Generally, a registration would only be rejected if it does not contain date of birth, party affiliation, address or signature. "I knew I was supposed to get something, but I figured it was the Quad mail situation," Engineering sophomore Benjamin Mourad said last night. Mourad has not received a confirmation, but has not telephoned to see if he is registered. Maccolier said yesterday that he regrets that registrations were lost in the mail and that he had written a letter for one student who was not listed on the voter roles explaining that the voter did try to register.

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