The BOPARC Senior Center voting precinct in Morgantown, W.Va. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Laney Eichelberger for West Virginia Watch)
A tumultuous breeze, a push-and-pull struggle between the beaming sun and gloomy skies, and, as polling locations across Morgantown woke up and got a-casting, a rainbow smiling down on voters. Not even a mirror could so perfectly reflect the sentiments of area voters, whose rays of hope and excitement cut through clouds of anxiety and fear.
From BOPARC’s Wiles Hill Community Center to West Virginia University’s Mountainlair Student Union to Mountaineer Middle School, although voting motives are assorted, many Morgantown voters share one enduring foundation: a passion for democracy.
“Voting is a right that a lot of other people around the world don’t have, so I think it’s a privilege in that sense,” says 27-year-old Walter Harms, noting the necessity of citizen participation for efficient democracy.
Locals emphasize not only the significance of fulfilling their civic duties as Americans, but as West Virginians. Many touted local elections as the true spark of change, and a need for greater participation outside of national elections.
“I think most of the work starts on a local level,” says WVU research graduate student Lauren Cheshire. “Starting on a local level and working your way up, you’ll see more changes and get to know your community more, and that’s what America is based on — community.”
With the bustle of students in and out of WVU’s Mountainlair, first-time voters are plenty. Some new voters are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, while others describe feelings of dread and anxiety; many students balance both attitudes. Notably, out-of-state students reported complexities and barriers of the absentee voting process.
Across the board, area voters feel motivated by standout topics like women’s reproductive rights and finding an end to the divisive nature of today’s political culture.
“Women’s rights is basically what’s on my mind,” said Jaime Hamisch, a 46-year-old optician who recently moved from Pennsylvania to West Virginia. Describing a friend’s near-fatal ectopic pregnancy due to legislative restrictions on the condition’s treatment, Hamisch stressed a need for greater education on reproductive medical procedures.
In another perspective, Malcolm Joyner recalls the violence and hateful rhetorics which have permeated American politics in recent years, and the ways he has felt unsafe and unheard as a Black man.
“Being a minority in West Virginia, I feel like it falls upon me even doubly to get out there and cast my vote,” Joyner said. “I know everybody feels like their vote doesn’t matter, or whatever the case may be, but it’s still important.”
All in all, Morgantown’s polling locations are a melting pot of optimism, resignation, excitement, and just plain exhaustion — one voter wonders when it will all be over. More than that, though, as leaves litter the ground and the state hangs between the seasons, West Virginia voters are in a similar position: Ready for change.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.