Portage County voters look forward to the end of political season
At polling locations across the county, residents said their votes were crucial. But they also couldn’t wait for the campaign season to end.
Kim Borucki, of Garrettsville, brought her son Noah Hoffmann out to vote for his first time. She wanted to make sure he exercised his right — even though they disagreed. She voted for Joe Biden. Hoffman voted for Donald Trump.
Hoffmann said he voted for Trump because he was more capitalist, while he felt Biden leaned toward socialism. Borucki voted for Biden mainly because of his stance on the pandemic, but she said neither candidate was an ideal choice for her.
“Over the last couple of elections, it’s just been real tough,” she said. “Growing up and having decent candidates, and now we’re in this. … It’s just getting more ridiculous.”
Portage County residents hit the polls Tuesday to vote in both the presidential and local elections. Lines remained short and voting went smoothly during the afternoon at polling locations throughout the county. Portager and KentWired reporters visited polling locations and talked with voters in Kent, Ravenna, Rootstown, Garrettsville, Mantua and Suffield.
Many Portage County voters said they’re looking forward to the end of election season.
“It’s a little depressing because of everything that’s going on with the pandemic and the voting and the back and forth with Biden and Trump,” said Annette Coney, a Kent State resident services employee from Ravenna.
She said she’s scared of what could happen in the coming months. “To me, it doesn’t matter who gets into office,” she said. “I think we all should be concerned and we all should pray.”
Darla Spencer, of Mantua, said she thinks volatile people on either side of the political spectrum could cause problems after the election. She voted for Trump because “he’s done more for the country than all of the politicians who’ve been in forever.”
“I mean, he did get our economy going,” she said. “He’s taking care of some of the deals that we made that we shouldn’t have made that really hurt us, in my opinion.”
Spencer said people need to respect each other and the president more, regardless of political beliefs.
But not everyone felt that same political burnout. Tori Palmer missed the age requirement to vote by two days, but at 17 years old, she volunteered to work the polls at Maplewood Christian Church in Ravenna. She said she has learned a lot from working the polls, and she values educating herself about U.S. government and history.
“There are a lot of things at stake depending on which party you support, depending on who you view in whatever light,” she said. “A lot of people who are in politics tend to be older and may not share the same view as me, so it’s really important for me to try and get my view out there even if I am younger and have a different opinion.”
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