On Tuesday, many students made their way to Alumni Hall, Slaughter Recreation Center and other polling places around the University of Virginia, joining the millions of Americans making their voices heard in the 2020 presidential election.
There are three polling places on or near Grounds – Slaughter, Alumni Hall and the Miller Center – and some students are zoned for polling places at Johnson Elementary School or Buford Middle School.
UVA’s Student Council ran a voter registration drive throughout the fall semester, and partnered with University Democrats, College Republicans and Hack Cville to provide safely distanced, free rides to the polls for both early voting, which began on Sept. 18, and for students voting on Election Day. Student leaders hoped to equal or exceed voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election, when 63.9% of the UVA student body voted, earning UVA recognition as the No. 4 Top Voting Campus in the U.S., ranked by investigative journalism site Who What Why.
As of Tuesday night, votes were still being counted in a close race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Several departments around UVA are also hosting events analyzing the election, including a Wednesday webinar hosted by the Miller Center, “Election 2020: What Just Happened?” A full list of election-related academic programming is available here.
Meanwhile, check out some snapshots from Election Day on Grounds.
