Young voters at UMass Amherst gathered at a viewing party on campus to watch as national and state results came in Tuesday night. Matthew Shore is a student who said he was particularly hopeful about this election.
"Generally, I'm pretty excited as a Democrat or a left-leaning person. Um, it feels good for this to be an election that I'm confident we're gonna come out on the better side…" he said.
In addition to feelings of hope and excitement, students expressed the importance of voting.
“Every vote is extraordinarily important. And it's your voice. And if you don't vote, you aren't using your voice. So people can tell you that where you live doesn't matter or like it's imbalanced to other places, but really just going to vote it, it shows people that you're are interested it, um, especially if you're a young demographic, it exposes your voice out into the world. And that's just a really important thing to be doing, especially today,” student Jackson Scott said.
Some students had different voting experiences than others, like Ria Phadke, who is registered to vote in Florida. She says voting in a red state that differs from her Democratic views was intimidating.
"It was scary standing right next to them in the voting, like, like in the polling centers, like the voting booths. Knowing that they were voting essentially like against everything that I am. So that was definitely a little interesting," she said. "But, um, I overall, it was a very, like, it was very different than what I'd imagined voting in Massachusetts to be. It was like kind of stakes were high. It felt like and where I lived especially."
Apart from electing candidates both nationally and locally, the Massachusetts ballot questions motivated students from the state to vote. Students supported Question 4, which would permit same-day voter registration, and Question 9, which would keep a law in place that increases the regulation of firearms.
Ariela Ellman, a student from New Jersey, struggled to register to vote this year and said she would have benefited from same-day voter registration in Massachusetts.
“I think it would be fantastic if you were able to go and register and vote on the same day. I don't think that's going to lead to more election fraud. However, people may think that. I just think that this is a way to allow more people to vote,” she said. Questions 4 and 9 ultimately passed.
On the other hand, students opposed Ballot Question 3, which would enact all-party state primaries, and Question 8, which would prohibit the use of recreational marijuana. These questions failed.
The night ended with students celebrating Democratic sweeps in the U.S. Senate and House, with most seats in Massachusetts remaining Democratic as well.
NEMP reporter Nirvani Williams contributed to this report.