No car? No bus pass?
No problem.
To help voters across Onondaga County, several organizations are teaming up to offer rides to polling places throughout the greater Syracuse area.
“We find that sometimes students or the elderly can’t always get to the polling place,” Eleanor Pendergast, of the Syracuse for Obama organization, said. “That’s why we’re offering rides.”
Syracuse for Obama is among several organizations that will have volunteers available to shuttle people to and from polling places on Nov. 4. Both the Onondaga County Democratic Party and the Onondaga County Republican Party will be offering similar services throughout the day.
Several candidates, including the candidates in the 25th Congressional race, Dan Maffei and Dale Sweetland, will also have volunteers shuttling people to and from polling places.
“We will have people from the Sweetland campaign helping the Onondaga County Republicans give people rides to polling places,” John Birch of the Sweetland campaign said.
The Maffei campaign will also have volunteers on hand to aid the Onondaga County Democratic Party, a representative of the Maffei campaign said.
For students at Syracuse University looking for rides to polling places, the New York Public Interest Research Group — or NYPIRG — will be offering shuttles from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day. The group will offer students living in Flint and Day Halls rides to Toomey Towers polling place. They will also be offering students on South Campus rides from Goldstein Student Center to Drumlins Country Club to vote.
“We find that students living in these locations have the hardest time getting to their polling place,” Eric Wood, of NYPIRG, said. “We’ll continue offering rides throughout the day as long as students keep taking advantage of it.”
To set up an appointment or for more information on rides to and from polling places contact the following organizations:
- Onondaga County Democratic Party offering rides 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 4. Call 315-422-0345 to make an appointment for a ride.
- Onondaga County Republican Party offering rides 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 4. Call 315-471-2020 to make an appointment.
- NYPIRG offering rides on the SU campus 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 4. Call 315-476-8381.
- Syracuse for Obama offering rides 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 4. Call 315-796-2262 to make an appointment for a ride.
- Dale Sweetland campaign offering rides with the Onondaga County Republican Party. Call 315-218-6883.
- Dan Maffei campaign offering rides with the Onondaga County Democratic Party. Call 315-214-0022.
(Ashley Pettigrew is a senior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and policy studies)
-30-
