A Day At The Polls

November 7, 2012

 UMass junior Jake Crowley was found holding a Romney/Ryan poster in his hands at the Lutheran church in Amherst, Mass. shouting to the crowd, “Am I the only Republican in this state? I’m from New York and I thought that was a liberal state.”

Many young voters turned out in large numbers at the Lutheran church to express their right to vote in this year’s election.

One after another, citizens joined the line of voters. Students in the Amherst area lined up at voting booths while many students waited at the Hagis Mall PVTA bus stop at UMass waiting for a bus to bring them to their correct precinct.

These lines surprised some students but didn’t stop them from voting. UMass sophomore Dean Cote said, “Voting is important to me, and as annoying as these lines for the buses are and now the polls, it is great to see so many students voting this year.”

            Cote, who said he was excited to vote for the first time, was mostly interested in the presidential race. He said,  “My vote is for Obama, because I am a gay and the Republicans aren’t in favor of gay marriage.”  

            Students seemed to be interested in the State Senate race. Nick Mangini, a junior at UMass, said “I’m more interested in the presidential race because it has more national coverage, although I did vote for Warren because I believe in her stance on taxes.”

            Mangini said that he has a strong opinion about this election’s candidates. The student, who voted for Obama, said that he thinks Romney’s plan would ruin the country.

In terms of question three, which opts for the legalization of medical marijuana, sophomore Zack Brown said, “ I am a big supporter of the legalization of marijuana so I felt like I should come out and vote yes to question three. To me that is more important than the candidates.”

Dan Leavitt, a UMass junior, said, “The economy is what I base my vote on. I’m not a fan of what Obama has done, but I just find it hard to believe that Romney can do better.”

            The student went on to say, “Foreign policy is important to research before voting because if there was another terrorist threat I would like to know what action would be taken.” Leavitt said his vote is for Obama because he feels Obama is a better man for the job compared to Romney.

            According to Cote “People don’t really care too much about the local elections, I haven’t even heard of some of the people on the ballot and it’s not like I live in Amherst so it doesn’t really affect me.”

            When asked what it was like to vote for the first time, senior Gwen Crosby said, “I thought it would be a little stricter when it came to walking in. They didn’t even ask for my ID or my proof of my address in Amherst. All they asked for was my name and let me in. I was very surprised.”  

            Amherst voted strongly in favor of president Obama who received 83 percent of the vote. The senate race was the same with Warren receiving 80 percent of the votes in Amherst.