Students, grads oversee polling places on Election Day

Bellefonte Area High School students, and even some graduates, agreed this year to help run precincts in Centre County for Election Day.

It’s something they have been doing for more than 20 years with the help of teacher Ed Fitzgerald. On Tuesday, many arrived at their assigned location up to an hour before polls opened at 7 a.m.

Bellefonte Area Class of 2017 grad Wylyn McCullough was the election judge for Bellefonte Southeast Precinct 04 at Faith United Methodist Church. She said getting there early allowed her and five others set up ahead of time.

“We just get everything in order and make sure we know our roles,” she said.

The goal of student-run precincts, Fitzgerald said, is to help students learn a little bit about elections, and also help meet the requirement for community service.

Senior James O’Donald said working the precincts correlates with class curriculum in Fitzgerald’s Advanced Placement government class. It includes learning about election concepts, vocabulary and positions available in voting districts.

This year, about 75 Bellefonte Area students worked polling places for the general election. There are 91 locations in Centre County, according to the Centre County Office of Elections and Voter Registration.

*By Brit Milazzo, public relations director, BASD