Some NIU students took advantage of the grace period registration and early voting held in the Holmes Student Center last week.

There were 195 early voters at NIU, said Lynne Kunde, the deputy clerk of elections for DeKalb County.

Kunde added that 128 additional people used the grace period registration and voted as well.

Kunde said she felt like the process went well at NIU.

“Anytime someone votes, it’s successful,” Kunde said.

Ron Reinert, senior organizational and corporate communication major, said he will probably go home to vote instead of using the on-campus early voting, but said that he thinks it is helpful for other students.

“A lot of the kids that are up here don’t have the ability to go back home every weekend or to their polling place,” Reinert said. “At least it offers them a chance to be heard.”

Patrick Frierson, adult and higher education graduate student, said he did not use the on-campus registration or early voting, but said that he still thinks it is good for students.

“It’s a great avenue that you can have students vote early and register on campus, because a lot of students wouldn’t do it otherwise,” Frierson said.

In total, there were 976 early voters in DeKalb County, Kunde said. One hundred sixty-three people in the county voted by using the grace period registration.