The polls in Montpelier on Election Day 2024. Photo by Theresa Golub
Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the Montpelier Bridge
Scenes on the ground in Barre and Montpelier for Election Day 2024
By Theresa Golub and Charlotte Oliver. Theresa and Charlotte visited with voters at the polls in both communities.
Outside the polls at the Barre Auditorium, folks from four parties sat under white tents shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the doors through which voters walked. Across Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and independents, the Election Day sentiment seemed the same.
“We’re all here because we believe in Barre City,” said Carol Dawes, an independent candidate for state representative.
In the morning, candidates and party workers helped each other set up tents and tables next to each other, and everyone exchanged hugs, said Dawes. By early afternoon, Barre City candidates Michael Boutin (R), Teddy Waszazak (D), Jonathan Williams (D), Cassidy Lang (I), Jeremy Spiro (I) and Dawes had all shown up outside with party supporters to greet voters.
A table hosted by state House candidate Boutin drew questions because it offered apples and donuts in addition to pins and flyers in touting him and other GOP candidates. After checking with the Secretary of State’s office, City Clerk Cheryl Metivier told those gathered that offering food and beverages was not allowed.
Those at the table promptly removed those items, leaving the buttons and other political literature. Boutin later said voters had mostly grabbed the food on their way out.
In Barre and Montpelier, poll workers described a steady stream of voters. All had different reasons for coming out.
“We have a wonderful, strong, vibrant community, and I want to see that continue. A big part of that is civic participation,” said Christopher Curtis, 54, of Montpelier.
“I haven’t voted yet,” he said. “I was about to vote, and then I thought, ‘This is a historic election.’ I am going to wait and bring my sons so they can be a part of it.”
Curtis said he planned on coming back with his kids once they were out of school. It was a chance for his son to see the election of the first woman president, he said.
Colleen Anderson, 37, walked out of the polling place holding one of her two kids by the hand. “I was told we might be getting our first female president, and I wanted my daughter to be here for that,” said the stay-at-home mom from Montpelier.
Anderson brought her kids to vote because it felt important to her growing up, she said.
In Barre, Isabella Taylor left the auditorium with her youngest child of four in a carrier. “It’s important to vote,” the 27 year-old said, adding she voted Republican across the ballot.
“I believe life is the most important thing,” Taylor said, explaining she voted for Trump because of his stance on abortion. Her religious faith informs her anti-abortion position, Taylor said.
Progressive candidates from Barre like Cassidy Lang and Jeremy Spire, both running for justice of the peace, hoped to bring visibility to the third party. Sitting outside that day they hoped to show voters there are “new voices” and third-party options, the two said.
“In Vermont, because we’re a historically blue state, I exercise my right to vote for a third party. I believe that development of third parties is tremendously important,” said Elizabeth Parker, 68, of Montpelier.
For Dawes, the former Barre City clerk, it felt weird to sit outside on Election Day, she said. Inside it’s calm, but outside it’s enjoyable, lively, and there’s a sense of community, she said.
“In Barre, people vote on the person, not the party,” said Dawes.
In East Montpelier, in a sign of the times, a sheriff’s deputy was on site as an added precaution as voters used the elementary school to cast their ballots.