This is the Vermont Cynic’s live updates page for the 2024 general election. Throughout the day, reporters from the Cynic will be covering election-related developments on campus as they happen. 

2 p.m.

The UVM chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America is tabling in the Davis Center today to pass out fliers and promote issues on campus, said sophomore and member Samuel Wentzell.

YDSA Co-Chair Trey Cook, a senior, said he is dissatisfied with both presidential candidates’ stances on the Israel-Palestine conflict, an issue he said is very important to him.

YDSA is hosting an election night watch party in Harris Hall 115 after their 7 p.m. general meeting. State Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D-Chittenden Central), will be in attendance at the watch party, said Cook. 

UVM’s Civic Engagement Program is tabling in the Davis Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with celebratory items such as a “UVM Civic Engagement Election Day” picture frame and “I voted” stickers.

Aimee Alexander, assistant director for Civic Engagement, said they wanted to give students who mostly vote by mail the in-person voting experience of receiving an “I voted” sticker.

“We are celebrating the election,” Alexander said. “So many students are voting for the very first time, or at least in their first presidential election, so that’s exciting.”

Senior Bee Wilson, Civic Engagement’s social media marketing assistant, has been working with the program for three years, even coming in two months before fall semester to start work for this election.

“There’s a big consensus of people who have just kind of lost faith in the system,” he said. “[Students] wish they felt more confident about candidates. Because this is such a close election, so we won’t know for a while, there’s a lot of restless energy.”

Civic Engagement can also help students get involved between national elections.

“In previous years, Town Meeting Day is always a big push,” Wilson said. “That’s more about educating students on what they’re voting for. A lot of them are living in a new area and aren’t as versed in local politics, they just don’t know how to research those issues, especially in a bipartisan way.”

Wilson emphasizes the importance of ballot workers and local county offices.

“Your biggest supporters are going to be people who are doing the voting work,” he said. “The language is outdated and can be scary, these people are paid to show up every day to help you vote and get your ballot in.”

12 p.m.

UVM Program Board is hosting an Election Chill Zone in the Spruce Room on the 4th floor of the Davis Center, said Ella Prast, a senior UPB production member. 

The Chill Zone aims to create an atmosphere free from election-related stress with snacks, puzzles, Play-Doh and mellow music, Prast said.

“I personally decided to work this entire shift today because I didn’t want to talk to people about election stuff,” Prast said. “It’s all a bit too much, and so I would rather just sit here and chill and make a nice chill vibe.”

The Chill Zone is open until 4 p.m. today and will be open for the rest of the week, Prast said. 

Ella Leding, a first-year from Maine, said she plans to attend the cookie baking event hosted by the WAGE center for stress relief at noon.

“I’m probably the most concerned about women’s rights and education,” Leding said.

Senior Leo Rabinovich, who was smoking a cigarette on the steps of Howe Library, said abortion is a main issue he is voting on.

“I don’t know how it’s going to go. I’m nervous,” Rabinovich said. “I think that this impacts certain demographics of people significantly more than it impacts me.”

Sophie Miller-Grande, a senior who was interviewed as she was leaving her 8:30 a.m. class in Lafayette Hall, said she was blocking out the election. 

“I feel like there’s been this eternal campaigning cycle for the past four years, and I’m kind of done with it,” she said.

Miller-Grande, a Wisconsin resident, said she submitted her absentee ballot in mid-October.

“Now that the actual day has come, I’m feeling a lot of anticipation towards the results,” she said. “I also might just have a glass of wine tonight, get in bed and just wake up tomorrow and see what happens.”

November 5, 10:00 a.m.

The Davis Center was empty earlier this morning, save for the few students with 8:30 a.m. classes passing through. In the Rosa Parks’ room, however, junior Avery Hamill, UVM Students Demand Action president, is phone banking for gun violence prevention.

Students Demand Action, a national organization of young people campaigning to end gun violence, is phone banking in swing states today, Hamill said.

“We have an all-day plan,” they said. “We also have people down at the polls trying to do voter turnout in swing states and vote tripling at the polls.”

SDA will be phone banking until 6:45 p.m., Hamill said. 

“I think it’s going to be a tight election,” they said. “If you want the flashy part, you’ve got to do the ugly phone banking.”

Polls across the country begin closing at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the last of them closing around 1 a.m.

“We think Vermont needs a kick up the ass in terms of being politically active,” Hamill said. “We like to say we are, but students and people don’t want to turn up to do the actual hard work it takes to get somebody elected.”

There are 261 polling locations in Vermont, according to the Vermont Secretary of State.

Hamill, a Pennsylvania resident, said they voted in October and that the process was difficult. 

“The Republicans made it super difficult to vote by mail, vote in general,” they said with a laugh. 

Tracking your mail-in ballot varies by state: find your state information with this ballot tracker.

The following writers contributed to this staff report:

Sophia Balunek, Editor-in-Chief 

Maxine Thornton, Managing editor

Zoe Bertsch, Copy Chief

Noah Diedrich, News editor

Jacklyn Giles, Cynic news reporter

Andrew Gould, Cynic news reporter 

Tallulah Lintern, Cynic news reporter

Larissa Scaffidi, Copy staff

Hannah Daneau, Copy Staff

Erika Tally, Cynic Culture staff