As the deadline for voter registration approached, downtown State College transformed into a breeding ground for volunteerism.

It seemed that every 50 feet of sidewalk was occupied by two or three volunteers looking to register students to vote.

And what a job they did.

Thousands of new Centre County voters appeared in those weeks, driven by either a sense of nationalistic pride or the desire to rid pesky volunteers. So successful were their efforts that the traditionally Republican county turned blue.

It is the efforts of these students and State College residents that have convinced us to disregard recent polls that claim some students are not voting.

It’s not as though the results of the poll were disappointing — quite the opposite. The CBS/UWIRE poll claimed that 78 percent were planning on voting in today’s primary.

Even so, if the volunteers show up today as they did on the registration deadline, we have no reason to believe that this number won’t be significantly higher.

The poll itself isn’t all that convincing. Only 217 students — less than 1 percent of Penn State’s population — were polled. This makes for a lot of room for error.

Our biggest hope is that those who look at the poll don’t fall into the numbers game trap.

Do not assume that your vote will not matter. Yes, if 78 percent or more do turn out, it will reduce the strength of one vote from a Penn State student. But the winner of the Democratic nomination is not necessarily the winner in Pennsylvania. Sen. Hillary Clinton needs a landslide victory to stay in the race; Sen. Barack Obama needs to keep it close or win to convince undecided voters outside of the state.