Laker Hall received more foot traffic than it typically does on a Tuesday, a steady flow of both students and local residents as they made their way to cast their votes.

Despite what has been seen as tension and all-around anxiety surrounding the presidential election, the university campus was filled with confident smiles as students made their way to vote.

Student Apollo Delaney said Vote Oswego made the ability to vote more easily accessible for students, especially for those who are first-time voters. On top of voting education, the campus supplied shuttles to Laker Hall specifically for voting. However, both Delaney and peer Rebecca Castellucio said the shuttles were occasionally hard to identify amid the excitement and rush to the polls. 

Emily Tavarez also shared the excitement, but that did not come for her until she officially cast her vote.

“I was very nervous,” Tavarez said. “This is my first time voting; but I believe it is important to vote, especially in this election, so doing it has made me very excited and confident in my vote.” 

Like Tavarez, many students entering Laker Hall were voting in their first election. This was noted by poll worker Kimberly Davis, who has traveled to Oswego to volunteer her time. Davis has assisted with the campus election process for several years.

“It’s been very steady all day,” she said. “No one time was the busiest.” 

The polling place was open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Davis was there for the entire duration, helping students verify their registration before being able to officially vote. While many students were prepared, Davis said a surprising amount were not. However, she and her fellow volunteers made sure those students got registered, even though they would not be able to vote in the current election.

Regardless of their voting status, Davis recounted that many entered nervous, yet eager to vote and all of them left with a smile.

“I love to see the younger generation vote,” she said.