UPDATE (4:05 p.m.): Heather Smith of Rock the Vote reports that youth voters have received the following deceptive text message:
Due to long lines today, all Obama voters are asked to vote on Wednesday. Thank you for your cooperation.
(3:45 p.m.): We're seeing 2 trends when it comes to the youth vote today: a voter surge in youth-dense precincts, and young people facing obstacles to casting their vote.
Reports from dozens of youth dense precincts across the country including those in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan indicate that young voters are flooding the polls despite long lines and logistical obstacles.
As of 12:00pm at Drexel University in Philadelphia, 395 people have voted and 179 people were in line, a total of 574 people. In 2004, a total of 425 people voted in the same precinct. This is a strong early indicator of high turnout, already exceeding young voter turnout levels from 2004.
Young people in State College, Pennsylvania at Penn State University are reporting more than 1,000 students in line to vote at Penn State, which we blogged about here. Federal observers were also sent to Middle Georgia College to monitor a controversy over student registrations and make sure students are able to cast a provisional ballot.
Young adults are also facing obstacles in trying to vote today. More than 5,600 people, mainly Virginia Tech students, are registered to vote at precinct E1 in Blacksburg, Virginia (Montgomery County). That number is nearly double what the state law allows for polling stations and the lack of an additional polling station is causing substantial delays. In addition, the polling place is 6.5 miles away from campus at a tiny church located off the main road. There is no street sign marking the turn off to the one lane road. There are 30 parking spots for the thousands of voters expected to turn up at precinct E1. This problem is one of many student voters have faced in Blacksburg during this election. [We have since found that this initial report was inaccurate.]
Despite these obstacles, young adults are organizing their peers to get to the polls and arriving today to the polling place in large numbers, according to those on the ground.
