WEST LAFAYETTE — A decision not to have a polling location on Purdue University's campus this year caused controversy among students and some public officials in Tippecanoe County.
Now, students can vote early on campus at the Córdova Recreational Sports Center. They can do so on October 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
If they vote on Election Day, they will have to vote off campus. It's a decision the Tippecanoe County Election Board says they made based on voter data.
"There isn't suppression,” Mike Smith, a Tippecanoe County Election Board Staffer, said. “This is a data-driven decision. You have to evaluate the county as a whole."
When Tippecanoe County election officials looked at the data, it didn’t make sense to them to have a polling place on campus. They saw a big change in the number of people who registered to vote who live on or near campus.
In 2020, there were 6,696 people registered to vote in the campus area. So far in 2024, there are 3,058.
"The same vote centers we used in 2007 certainly aren't the ones that we are using in 2024,” Smith said. “You wouldn't want it to be that way. You want us to keep up with the times, you want us to keep up with the people."
When WRTV’s Meredith Hackler visited Purdue University to get a reaction from students, several of them weren’t registered to vote.
Two people say it would have been more convenient if there was a polling place on campus.
"That puts a lot of students at a disadvantage, those who may not be able to make that,” Makenzie Albert, a Purdue sophomore, said. “Those who can't go home to where they live, people who live in California, New York, they can't go home easily to vote there. So, I feel like they should make voting a little more accessible."
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"It would have been nice to have but there are 50,000 students here, so I understand why it would be hard to organize something like that,” Avery McGinley, a senior at Purdue University, said.
Tippecanoe County election officials say students can vote on Election Day at West Lafayette City Hall, which is just east of the campus.
For a list of polling places in the area, click here.
