On election day, some student voters were turned away from the polls and were given provisional ballots to fill out since they weren’t registered.

Kristen Lash, who coordinated Democratic poll watchers for the DeKalb County Democrats, said a provisional ballot is distributed to a person whose name does not appear on the official form of eligible voters for a certain precinct.

She added the person is given a provisional voter affidavit, which they fill out and sign, and is then placed in the provisional ballot envelope along with their ballot.

The envelope is returned to the election judge, and is sent to the County Clerk’s office.

Lash said their vote may or may not count.

“People think they are registered to vote, but the clerk can’t find any information on them on the voter roll,” she said.

Lash said the voter then has 48 hours after the closing of the polls to present evidence to the county clerk to show they have the right to vote.

She said this happened to at least eight students and one community member. She added most incidents occurred when a student wrote down their home address instead of their campus address.

Poll watcher Norm Read was at the Student Recreation Center when this occurred. He added he saw young and new voters that were engaged in the election process, and they were very proud about their opportunity to vote.

Read said students were upset when they had to fill out a provisional ballot.

“These voters should be given the opportunity to prove their registration,” he said. “They should not be denied the opportunity.”