Students, faculty turn out to vote on campus

Penn students registered to vote in Philadelphia came out to their respective polling locations to participate in yesterday's hotly contested mayoral election between Democrat incumbent John Street and Republican Sam Katz.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. yesterday and closed at 8 p.m.

David Rittenhouse Laboratory, at 33rd and Walnut streets, saw a large number of student voters yesterday, according to the city employees running the polls.

"Students are really starting to come now," said Keyetta Logan, judge of elections for the 19th division of Philadelphia's 27th ward, at about 12:30 p.m. "So far, this is the most we've ever seen. We've been doing this for three years."

Logan said everything had been running smoothly, despite an altercation between a Penn professor supporting Katz and a Street campaign volunteer shortly after the polls opened.

Throughout the day, outside DRL, both Street and Katz supporters passed out literature to those entering the polls. Election rules state that campaign volunteers are not allowed to enter the polls.

"We've gotten a very positive feeling out here, there have been very few negative responses," said Darren Smith, a Katz campaign volunteer from Dickinson College.

"We've been here and in Center City since 5 a.m., and we'll be out until the polls close," he added.

Katz campaign volunteer Kristen Henkelman, a member of the College Republicans at Villanova University, said she had noticed a lack of Street poll workers around the city.

"We've seen blue [Katz] T-shirts all over," she said. Henkelman and Smith were part of a gathering of students from Penn, Villanova and Dickinson supporting Katz outside DRL.

Katz supporters did seem to outnumber Street volunteers around campus yesterday afternoon. Only two representatives from Penn Democrats rallied for Street in front of DRL.

"Both sides are trying to get people out, and get people interested," said College sophomore Brian Rosenwald, a member of Penn Democrats.

"This is my first time voting in a mayoral election," said Philadelphia native Shaun Staller, a College sophomore, as he entered DRL to place his vote.

"I'm a registered Democrat, but I'm definitely voting for Katz, because Street was the worst mayor ever."

College sophomore Duncan Lloyd, a "lifelong Philadelphian," said he planned to vote in his home district, where he maintains his residency.

"I decided to take some time off from class to go with my dad to vote in my neighborhood," Lloyd said. "I'm voting for Street, because I hate Sam Katz. His campaign didn't focus at all on his own issues, he only attacked Street's shortcomings."

Other polling locations close to campus were quieter than DRL yesterday afternoon.

The judge of elections at the Penn Care and Rehabilitation Center, at 36th and Chestnut streets, who declined to provide her name, said she had "not seen greater interest" in voting due to the heated race between Street and Katz.

"It's the usual quiet place here," she said.

Colin Foley, a first-year student in Penn's School of Design, was the only person at the Penn Care and Rehabilitation Center when he cast his ballot yesterday afternoon.

Foley is from Connecticut and yesterday was his first time voting in a Philadelphia election.

"I have a strong opinion in favor of one of the candidates," he said, declining to specify which. "But I don't know if he'll win."

Other students voted at the Last Word Bookshop at 3925 Walnut St.

"We've had 23 people vote, mostly students," said Alice Wells, one of three city employees running the poll in the back of the bookstore.

"We had to send many people to other polling places, there has been a lot of confusion because people don't know they can't just vote anywhere, only at their designated poll."

Voters are required to cast their ballots in their assigned ward and division, which is based on their address.

Although voter turnout at the bookstore seemed small, Wells said only a total of 17 people voted in the same division for the primary in May.

"We don't get many people here, it's a small division," she said. "But I expect to see more today because of the buzz around Katz and Street."

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