“I’m feeling a lot better than I have in eight years,” said Obama supporter Janis Knight.  “Obama’s charisma, his honesty and his intelligence are very reassuring. And nothing could be worse than the leadership we’ve had in the past.”

Among the hundreds of celebrants at the Grand Sierra were patrons who weren’t even allowed to vote yet.  Thirteen-year-olds Dylan Rath and Bradley Caladianos represented the Obama campaign by wearing T-shirts and talking with Democratic voters.

“I believe in Obama’s health care plan and tax plan,” Caldianos said. “ I think he is going to be a huge change for our country. I’m so excited. My parents support Obama, but it was mine and Dylan’s idea to endorse him like this.”

Students at Squaw Valley Academy’s  U.S. government class also attended, but not for academic purposes.

“We wanted to come down and feel the energy,” said teacher Nico Thorston.

“Not only to see how it works systematically, but to see the reactions of people around us.”

Many in the class are exchange students from Asian countries. They were interested in how American democracy actually works. One student, who asked for anonymity, spoke about the differences between Democratic America and Communist China.

“It’s completely different from America,” the student said. “In China there is no choice, there is just one political party We’re supposed to memorize sayings about why China is great, why communism is great, and you can’t say anything bad about it. You’ll get in trouble if you do.”

Many UNR students turned out at the Grand Sierra in support for Obama as well. Their concerns echoed the young-voter mantra that seemed so prominent throughout the campaign: It’s time for change.

“The economy is what scares me most,” said UNR senior Roxanna Khalili.

“This recession, or what will be, has to stop. Health care is also a main issue for me, too. We need some sort of universal health care plan, and I feel that through Obama we can achieve that.”

The young vote, however, was not the only  group present at the Democratic Party. Baby boomers said Obama reminded them of a great leader past.

“It’s like seeing John F. Kennedy 40 years later,” said Obama supporter Todd Vodensteiner. “His intellect, judgment and ability to work both sides of Congress and his track record are remarkable. Obama will carry the torch that Kennedy started.”

“I can’t wait until January,” Obama supporter Lorna Hazlett said. “Obama’s confidence, liberal tone and positive attitude is exactly what this country needs.”

Story by Kelly Teemer

The district encompasses Washoe County, where the results were different. In Washoe, Derby led 49.82 percent to 43.78 percent.

Democratic candidates Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus lead Republicans Kenneth Wagner and John Porter in District 1 and 3, respectively.

Story by Chelsea Otakan

Early-voting numbers also showed Democratic congressional candidate Jill Derby with an 11 percentage-point lead over Republican candidate Dean Heller. Republican State Senate candidate Bill Raggio led Democrat Jade Zahreddine by approximately 24 percentage points..

Early voters accounted for approximately 45 percent of the 231,437 total registered voters in Washoe County.

Story by Chelsea Otakan

Michael Cushing is an independent who during the presidential primaries supported Ron Paul. Cushing said that Paul was not given a fair chance during the Republican primaries and that the media wrote him off as a choice for president.

Cushing is still very much interested in who will become the next president. However, he remained cynical.

“I’m not going to vote for the lesser of two evils,” he said.

Cushing can find common ground with both candidates. He is a senior citizen and used to be in the Navy. Additionally, he enjoys fishing and hunting—both things where he can relate to with John McCain and Sarah Palin.

“I like the personalities of both McCain and Palin but it’s with Obama and Biden where I agree on the issues,” Cushing said.

Cushing said that if he had to vote he would go for Obama because he feels Obama will be able to take the U.S. in a new direction—“He [Obama] is fresh and not corrupted.”

The youth as well as the old are excited about this year’s election.

Shirley Herrera and Zack Pringel are part of the UNR Honors Political Science Society.

Herrera became a strong supporter of Barack Obama after Hillary Clinton did not become the Democratic Presidential Candidate.

“My top issue was the economy and international relations and I think that Obama and Biden were the right combination to become president and vice president of the U.S.,” Herrera said.

Herrera like many Obama supporters disagrees with the McCain tax cuts and thinks that “people who make more should be taxed more.”

Zack Pringel is in his 3rd year at UNR and voted for Paul because he thinks he will be “the right choice because he is fiscally conservative and has the right plan for Iraq.”

At the end of the day, whether you agree with the next president’s policies or not, all we can do is hope that he is correct on the issues and that he will take the United States of America in the right direction.

Story by Alexander de Rafols
McQueen High School student

“We will ensure that the voting process is legitimately carried out,” Maritza Perez, president of the student club, said. “We strongly believe that voting rights are equivalent to people’s civil rights.”

Rebecca Gasca, public advocate of the ACLU of Northern Nevada, said the group visited more than 50 locations by 4 p.m. The group focused on the downtown to ensure inner-city residents weren’t given any misinformation.

“We are primarily in urban areas of Reno,” Gasca said. “We have moving teams — most of them have one lawyer with them to keep an eye out for misinformation or things like people being required to show IDs when IDs are not required.”

Gasca said there were no major problems to report.

“We’ve had some really good luck,” Gasca said. “In general, things have gone really smoothly in Washoe County. The only problem we’ve had has been with long lines but that was because of the high voter turnout.”

The ACLU Student Club and the ACLU are non-partisan groups. Their goal is to protect the rights of the voter regardless of political affiliation.

“When I’m wearing my ACLU hat, I’m non-partisan,” Perez said. “I care just as much about a Republican group as I do a Democratic one. Civil-rights violations are civil-rights violations regardless of who’s being violated.”

Gasca said that she, and ACLU volunteers nationwide, would continue to monitor polling places until every vote was counted.

“We’re going to be out here until the polls close,” Gasca said.

Any voter fraud or suppression of votes can be reported at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. All reports of fraud, suppression and general complaints can be viewed at www.866ourvote.org. Reports from polling places in every county of every state in the nation are recorded and updated in real time.

Story by Robert Mills