Ellington

This year's surge in youth voting—51 percent of Americans 29 and under voted this year as opposed to 42 percent in 2000—was nowhere more apparent than on black college campuses, reports the Black College Wire:

After months of on-campus voter registration drives, rallies led by celebrities and courting by candidates, the ranks of young voters swelled to record levels, according to reports from HBCU newspapers and mainstream news media. While many colleges reported that voting went smoothly, long lines were common. At some schools, mix-ups delayed or prevented some students from voting. [...]

Some said the polls were overwhelmed by the huge turnout, or questioned the staffing and equipping of the polling station. But others said that some of the students might not have been properly registered during massive campus voter registration drives, causing delays when poll commissioners tried to verify the registrations. Also, the phone lines to the registrar of voters were clogged throughout the day, slowing the verifications, reported the New Orleans Times-Picayune.