Thrill of voting for the first time undampened by rain

“We just really wanted to be part of this,” student Sam Koffman said between car honks.

A police car pulled up shortly afterward, and the officer asked the students to refrain from waving the Obama posters due to the noise disturbances they created. After the officer left, however, cars began honking once more.

Meanwhile, at the booths, first-time voters formed a winding line to cast their ballots despite the wet weather.

“I wanted to vote because I never voted before, [and] I think it’s really important that your opinion be heard,” Heather Rosengard ’11 said, arriving at the polls in yellow rain boots and a soggy coat. “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain for the next four years.”

Anticipating long lines, Davion Chism ’09 went to the station with a group of friends.

“We all have umbrellas, we’re prepared, we just wanted to vote,” Chism said.

“I just hope [my vote] went through,” Gabrielle Wilson ’09 said.

Some first-time voters were concerned about issues with the voting machines.

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Christopher Molosso ’09 said he was worried because the person voting before him had to re-enter the booth due to issues casting the ballot. But he had no problems. “It was easy, quick,” he said.

Some students had to cast provisional ballots due to problems with registration.

Ekaterina Mamyshev ’09, who was also voting for the first time, said that, because she is from another county in New Jersey, she voted by provisional ballot even though “there is a chance it could not be counted.”

“It was sort of expected, but I don’t think it’s going to make a huge impact,” she said. “It’s just for the experience.”

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Others, however, said they felt enthusiastic about their role in the election process.

“The first election I voted [in], I had to be dragged to the polls. I felt that that the Electoral College was a disenfranchising system,” Tomiko Ballantyne-Nisbett GS said, but she added that Tuesday, as she cast her vote for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), her feelings were very different.

“This is the most important day in my young life,” she said.

But one aspect of the voting process at the polls did dampen many eager voters who were surprised that New Jersey doesn’t give out “I Voted” stickers at the stations.

“I’m ridiculously disappointed right now. I wanted to save my sticker,” Ailea Stites ’12 said. “But sticker aside, it was a good voting experience.”