The results in the two precincts where most University of Miami campus residents voted tracked national and state trends in choosing Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, according to the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

On Nov. 2, 2004, 23-year-old Jose A. Martinez waited for two hours in the Miami heat outside of the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center to vote in the general election, along with 1,077 others who battled long lines beginning at 7 a.m. This year, administrators and student organizations are taking measures to ensure a smoother voting process.

The 2008 Presidential election is a big vote with big issues, and students in Miami have a unique opportunity to have a major impact.

Get Out The Vote, a student-run organization at the University of Miami that registers students to vote, was originally founded in 2004 after UM hosted the Presidential Debate between President George W. Bush and John Kerry, junior senator from Massachusetts.