Voter registration for Nov. 8 election ends next week

With the voter registration deadline one week away, Pitt political groups have taken to campus… With the voter registration deadline one week away, Pitt political groups have taken to campus to urge their unregistered peers to get their applications in before the Oct. 11 Pennsylvania due date.  

Matt Vermeire, the president of the Pitt College Republicans, stressed the importance of casting a vote in local elections. They’re the elections, he said, that often kick start national politicians’ careers.

“Local elections are where it matters,” he said. “When you have 500 people voting, your vote statistically counts for more. The people you elect in the local office are the ones who will lead you nationally.”

But, though students register to vote — Oakland has two of the largest voting districts in the city — they typically don’t vote. In non-presidential elections, turnout is usually less than 20 percent, and sometimes less than one percent among students.

Where to register

Municipal election day is on Nov. 8 this year. Students applying for an absentee ballot must apply by Nov. 1 and have their votes submitted by Nov. 4.

To register online, visit votespa.com to access a link to applications under the “applications and forms” side bar.

Students can also find application forms at any government agency, such as Army recruitment centers. On campus, both the Pitt College Democrats and the Pitt College Republicans will distribute voter registration forms during their tabling times in Towers’ lobby throughout the week.

Candidates

Positions up for election in Allegheny County include county chief executive, county controller, county treasurer and seats on both the Allegheny County Council and City Council.

Democrat Rich Fitzgerald will compete against Republican D. Raja for Allegheny County chief executive. The county chief executive is responsible for representing the county in all meetings with other elected officials and development organizations, approves or rejects county ordinances and can prepare and submit fiscal plans. The county executive also oversees the affairs of the Allegheny County Council. Both candidates made individual trips to Pitt to speak to students in September.

Both candidates have experience in local politics. Fitzgerald is currently in his fourth term as the president of County Council — he was originally elected in 2004. He has been a council member since 1999. D. Raja, who graduated from Pitt in 1989, began work as a commissioner in Mt. Lebanon in 2007. In 2010, he served as the president of the commissioners.

Republican Mike Dell of Plum is running against Nick Futules of Verona for the District 7 county council seat. Republican Heather Heidelbaugh will run unopposed, as will Democrat John DeFazio in their districts. Former Pitt political science professor Barbara Danko will run unopposed in District 11.

City Council Districts 1,3,5,7 and 9 each have a City Council seat available in this election.

Bruce Kraus has been renominated in District 3, which encompasses a part of Oakland. Democratic incumbent Darlene Harris holds the nomination in District 1, and Corey O’Connor holds the Democratic nomination in District 5. District 7’s incumbent Patrick Dowd was renominated, and the Rev. Ricky Burgess claimed District 9’s nomination.

For the Allegheny County controller seat, Democrat Chelsa Wagner is facing off against Republican Robert Howard. The Allegheny County controller is the chief fiscal officer for Allegheny County and oversees all of the County’s fiscal activity.

The County Treasurer race has C. Edward Pfeifer, a Republican with a 30-year financial management career at Alcoa, running against Democratic incumbent John Weinstein. The county treasurer collects taxes and other funds due to the county and provides daily reports to the county controller of money paid out.    

All voters in Pennsylvania also enter a vote for the judge of Superior Court and the judge of the Commonwealth Court, regardless of what county the voters are registered in.

Republican Vic Stabile faces Democrat David Wecht for the judge of the Superior Court nomination. Wecht has served in the Court of Common Pleas for Pennsylvania’s Fifth Judicial District since his nomination in February 2003.

The judge of the Commonwealth Court will be either Republican Anne Covey or Democrat Kathryn Boockvar. Covey has more than 26 years of experience as an attorney, and Boockvar has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association since 1994 and has worked as an activist for various professional associations and community service projects.

In Allegheny County, Alexander Bicket will attempt to oust incumbent Mike Marmo for the non-partisan position of judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Marmo was first appointed to the position in July 2009 and was an attorney at law from 2003 until 2009. Bicket has been a trial lawyer for the past 23 years in civil litigation and taught English and Latin for seven years at Fox Chapel Area High School.   

Campus Commentary

Student response to the upcoming elections is mixed.

On Sept. 30, sophomore James Lagasse volunteered with President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign to hand out voter registration forms outside of the William Pitt Union.

The history and political science major said he’s currently registered to vote in his hometown of Connellsville, Pa. He will not register to vote in Pittsburgh because of a tax issue on his home ballot that he will file an absentee ballot, but he acknowledged the effect Allegheny County officials have on student issues — namely, public transportation.

“The buses are very important because students depend on them,” he said. “It is important that we protect them.”

Vermeire said that the most important issue for him is jobs. After graduation, he hopes to stay in Pittsburgh if he can find a place of employment.

“If people want to graduate and get a job and want to stay here, we have to be able to get jobs,” he said.

Freshman Emily Maccia, who turned 18 in August, said she registered to vote on campus after she saw the Pitt College Democrats holding Obama campaign signs.

“I think it is stupid to hate what’s going on… and then not vote,” the psychology major said.

But not everyone registered to vote plans on casting his ballot.

Michael Barrett, an undeclared sophomore, said he is choosing not to vote because he doesn’t know enough about who is running.

“I don’t think I should have a say on something I don’t know anything about,” he said. “If we are going to vote for these people, [we should] know what they are going to do.”