Tue. Nov 26th, 2024

Frank R. Conwell P.S. No. 3 was one of Jersey City’s polling stations on Nov. 5, 2024. (Dan O’Connor for New Jersey Monitor)

There is just one hour until polls close in New Jersey and results start to pour in in what could be a nail-biter of a presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

For Summit voter Pamela Livingston, the future of Social Security weighed heavily on her choice for president.

“Trump is going to cut Social Security benefits, and I’m turning 60 in a couple of months,” said Livingston, 59, while standing outside of Lawton C. Johnson Middle School in this Union County suburb. “I’m a nurse, and I’m counting on those benefits. Otherwise, my socioeconomic status is going to go down during my retirement.”

Another Summit voter, Dwight Dixon, 67, swung the other way, voting for Donald Trump and the Republican slate. One issue in particular mattered most to him during this election cycle.

“The economy has been a mess, and it’s only going to get worse under Kamala. I was supposed to be retired three years ago,” said Dixon, who is self-employed. “I followed her campaign for the past couple of months, and I still don’t know what she stands for. She isn’t specific about anything.”

There have been reports of long lines of voters at polling places across the state. At a polling place in Metropolis Towers in Jersey City, elections worker Awilda Roman Estrella said turnout in the morning was the heaviest she’s ever seen.

“This is big. It’ll keep us up until 8 o’clock,” she said.

A Jersey City voter named Amanda, who declined to give her last name, said she voted for Harris.

“I think that comparing between the two main candidates she is the obvious choice. Not just for her wanting to restore women’s rights, her importance on environmental protection, but in terms of the economy as well. She’s just the right choice,” she said.

New Providence voter Daniel Hilbrandt, 70, a retired auto mechanic, griped that Democrats only want to talk about abortion.

“Donald Trump wants to make America great again, which means lowering taxes and making things affordable again,” said Hilbrandt. “My rent went up $700 in the last four years.”

In East Amwell, Arslan Hussain, 49, declined to discuss who he supports, but expressed unhappiness with his choices.

“Candidly, it’s a shame, in a country of our size, we only have these two to pick from,” Hussain said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

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