“Don’t forget your sticker!” the volunteer said as the woman started to walk away after having finished casting her vote for one of the presidential candidates.

Every 4 years citizens of our country gather together to cast their vote for the presidential candidate they believe will best serve the needs of the people and on measures that affect their community.

This process cannot be done without the help of volunteers, a role many students at UPA readily accepted.

Jacob Cayabyab, a junior at UPA, worked at one of the polling places on Election Day.

“I met tons of cool people and had a blast meeting the voters,” said Cayabyab.

Cayabyab enjoyed his time working the polls and was able to learn all the work that went into the election.

He said that even though he got paid, “it was a great experience learning just how important it is to vote.”

Cayabyab performed a variety of tasks, ranging from handing out stickers to checking signatures and addresses of the voters.

Asvin Desai, the precinct inspector at precinct 1038, volunteers to see how the process works.

“I wish I can repair the flaws as well as take pride in the expression of freedom,” said Desai.

Desai is motivated to help because he enjoys the democratic process of electing our leaders and he wants to help voters.

Junior Taelynn Roberson had never worked before, but enjoyed her time as an election officer.

“It was really exciting to see people showing up that were in my community — literally living on my street — that were so eager to vote that there was a line before the polls even opened,” said Roberson.

Not only did she have fun, but she had the opportunity to learn more about the democratic method.

“Helping out on election day definitely made me more aware of the process voting takes,” Roberson said.

Despite the political turmoil surrounding the candidates, the people at the polls all seemed to be in a good mood.
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“I just like interacting with people because they were very friendly and thankful, regardless of the way they voted,” said Roberson.