University of Wisconsin-Madison students, most voting in their first presidential primary Tuesday, were excited to have the opportunity.
Caroline Gomez, 19, who aspires to be a politician one day, voted absentee at the City Clerk’s office a week ago so she could spend all her time at the polls Tuesday volunteering, thanking voters and just making sure everything went smoothly.
“I like the election process. I’m a political science major and democracy in itself is inspiring,” Gomez said, standing next to the vote feeder and counter at the Doyle Administration Building on West Dayton Street just before the poll for Ward 44 closed at 8 p.m. “It’s a beautiful thing about our country, the ability to choose our leaders and choose how things are supposed to run,” she said.
Election observers closely watched student turnout for this election because young voters have been strong supporters of Sen. Barack Obama in his race for the Democratic nomination against Sen. Hillary Clinton. Obama targeted UW students for support early on and drew more than 19,000 people — many of them students — to the Kohl Center last week for a rally.