Election Day 10:23 a.m.

Emotions ran high at Espresso Roma surrounding today’s election. Roma, a popular student coffee shop, was filled with people quietly enjoying coffee and typing away.

Jane Straub compared this election to previous ones and noted the amount of division in politics now versus the past. “People had more grace back then,” she said. My dad was governor of Oregon and they got along, Republicans and Democrats.” The stress has gotten to Straub. “I had a heart attack in January and I’ve never done anything except worry about politics. The doctors thought that was a big part of it.”

Iba Ngaemen, a civil rights investigator, plans on “loosely” following the election today by checking online statistics. “I’m fairly optimistic that the president I want to win is going to win, despite the polls,”  he said. “I expect conservatives will lose their minds if they don’t win.”

Noah Whichett, a student at the University of Oregon, is worried about how divided the country seems. “We are supposed to be united as one under God,” he said. Whichett said he won’t watch the election tonight because he’ll find out eventually. Whichett and his friend Rhys Sayler were doing Bible study at the cafe. “I think it’s a really important one. Maybe the most important one we have ever had with all the turmoil going on,” said Whitchett.

Evyenia Kitssi, a customer, will be tuning in. She was hesitant to share her opinion of who she thought would be the next president. “I really don’t know; it’s so close, and I don’t want to jinx it. I’m scared to say anything,” she said. Either way, Kitssi predicts a strong public reaction. “I just think people will be super passionate about it. Regardless of how it goes.”

Election Day 10:15 a.m.

“My biggest concern would be security at the voting polls, and making sure everyone can vote for who they want without being intimidated or bullied,” said Luke Aguilar, a kitchen clerk at Market of Choice, who refers to himself as the Specialty Cheese Assistant. Aguilar shared that he feels represented as a voter in Lane County. He said that he is hopeful his vote makes a difference, “at least in some small way.”

Election Day 10:00 a.m.

Every weekend, people line the block to get into Rennie’s Landing, the closest bar to the University of Oregon campus. Live music, pool, and drinks draw students in, but there’s something it doesn’t offer. “We don’t talk politics in the bar,” said Jasmine, a bartender at Rennie’s.

Today’s election has many people on all sides of the political spectrum feeling anxious about the outcome. Major news organizations will live-stream election coverage, but Rennie’s has sports occupying their screens instead of politics.

Rennie’s is not doing anything special for the election tonight, much to the disdain of community member Sam Kumar, an employee at Hilyard Street Market.  “We have to talk about this one,” Kumar said after hearing about Rennie’s lack of political discussion, “it’s important.”

Kumar expects more students to make their rounds to his store tonight and is stocking the shelves with more alcohol than normal in preparation for the election.