Last election year I was subjected to long rants from conservatives in Iowa City about how the liberal dems were playing dirty by establishing satellite voting stations in the most liberal hangouts - namely, where the students congregate. If I recall correctly, there was even one in a bar. The idea was to make it as easy as possible for people who agree with you to vote in the election, and it's perfectly legal. Now, courtesy of CedarPundit, I discover that the liberals in Cedar Rapids are ticked that the conservatives did the same thing. Namely, satellite voting stations set up at the First Assembly Of God and River of Life churches in Cedar Rapids, presumably to attract anti-gambling vote. And, predictably, the shoe's on the other foot and liberals are incensed. According to Cedarpundit (I don't read the Gazette because unlike the Press-Citizen and the Des Moines Register, it doesn't have free online access), there have been a number of opinions expressed insinuating that church members are a 'captive' audience on Sunday and that there might be some peer pressure to vote - much less vote "the right way". Well, the same objections would hold for campus satellite voting, wouldn't it? The students are forced to be on campus, and pressure to vote in a certain manner permeates the classroom, as I can attest from prior experience. It even appears they're going to drag out the separation of church and state issue, though I can't see for the life of me how the voting office being in a church insinuates that the government established the church, or somehow supports the church's doctrine. Rather, it would be the other way around - the church is somehow supporting the US government and the voting process. An easy solution would be to follow the Iowa voting laws and allow satellite voting whenever 100 people or more are available to sign the petition, and let both sides have at it. Making voting easier for both sides just might get a majority of Iowans to actually go vote this year.