Scenes from the polls
Starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Community News Service dispatched student reporters to polling places across Vermont.
The reporters are students at the University of Vermont, as well as at Castleton University, St. Michael’s College and the Community College of Vermont. They asked voters about this historic election, where for the first time every Vermont voter was mailed a ballot.
Campaign signs outside of the Winooski Senior Center. (Katie Wynn/Community News Service)
Professor uses ballot as teaching tool
9:34 a.m. — Van Dora Williams, a professor at Champlain College dropped off her completed absentee ballot at the Winooski Senior Center.
“It was absolutely amazing to be able to see the ballot ahead of time,” Williams said. She shared the ballot with her students to examine the long and confusing list of presidential candidates.
Williams described the sacred importance of voting — especially among members of historically disenfranchised groups. “I have a history of being excluded from casting my ballot, so being able to vote is a reminder for me of why it’s so important. It’s also a way of honoring my great grandfather who was a civil rights activist in the South,” Williams said.
Williams hopes that during this election our country will “learn how to lose and learn how to win.”
- Mia Dillon
Winooski voter excited to change presidents
8:57a.m. — Snow began to fall in earnest as Ellen Post stood in line with a warm beverage in hand at the Winooski Senior Center polling location.
Post, 32, braved the cold to place her ballot in person. “I wanted to make sure my vote counted,” she said.
Asked if she was excited to vote today, she quickly stated, “Oh, definitely.” Why? “Changing our president,” she simply put.
Post works for Champlain Valley Head Start.
Thelma Lavigne, a Winooski retiree, waits in line to cast her ballot. (Mia Dillon/Community News Service)
Winooski voter remained undecided until last moment
8:57 a.m. — Thick snowfall and 30-degree temperatures did not dismay the long line of voters outside the Winooski Senior Center.
Thelma Lavigne, 69, a retiree, contemplated her decision outside the polling place.
“I haven’t decided until I go in there, but it’s rough,” Lavinge said.
Lavigne voiced her concern regarding the state’s plan to mail ballots to all registered voters in the general election. “Some people got seven in the mail, but I never received it,” Lavinge said.
Lavigne voted in person today to ensure her vote will be counted, Lavigne said.
-Mia Dillon
Voters brave the cold at the polling place at the Winooski Senior Center, November 3, 2020. (Katie Wynn/Community News Service)
Winooski voter claims registration challenged in Burlington
8:11 a.m. — Jeffrey Spaulding, 39, stood in line bundled up in layers of jackets at his second polling place of the day to submit his ballot in person after his registration was challenged at a Burlington location.
“I’m excited about getting home and getting back to the warmth,” he said. Pointing to the man in front of him wearing Birkenstock sandals, he noted “I’m more admiring of this guy, he doesn’t have socks on for goodness sake that’s impressive.”
Spaulding, a security officer at the UVM Medical Center, worked throughout the COVID pandemic.
“I lived it every day. It was tough and I watched the current Presidential administration not really care about it,” Spaulding said.
Braving the cold at his final polling destination of the day, Spaulding expressed his hopes for his vote in this election. “I’d like to think my vote counts today and I’d like to think things will change after tomorrow.”
-Katie Wynn
Winooski voters say in-person voting works for them
7:45 a.m. — A small line of voters stood outside the Winooski Senior Center waiting to be let in to vote. Greg Morris, a first time voter in Vermont and a Winooski resident, was one of the first people to get their vote in.
"I had no reason to feel that voting from home was a necessity," Morris said
Morris declined to say who they picked for President today.
Catherine Horne, a UVM Ph.d. student, shared why they came early and in-person to vote.
"I just love voting in-person," Horne said.
Horne believes the community center has done a great job and she felt no reason to not vote as usual today. Catherine voted for Joe Biden and is looking forward to whats to come this week.
-Ciara McEneany
‘I just don’t feel safe with the current administration’
Diego Javier-Jimenez, a chemistry Ph.D. student at UVM, took the day off to go in-person to vote. (Zoe Hulina/Community News Service)
7:33 a.m. — Winooski voters stood six feet apart in the parking lot of the Winooski Senior Center at 7a.m. on Tuesday morning, eagerly waiting in the snow to get their in-person vote counted.
Among these voters was Diego Javier-Jimenez, a chemistry Ph.D. student at UVM, who took a day off to go in-person to vote. “I actually forgot to get an absentee ballot,” He said with a laugh.
Like voters everywhere, Javier-Jimenez went to the polls today with key issues in mind.
“Being a minority, I voted obviously for Biden. I just don’t feel safe with the current administration, I think with the civil unrest that is happening, and also with not denouncing racism.”
- Zoe Hulina