The Bridge Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union received 1,161 voters Tuesday.

Oladapo Akindele, a sophomore sociology major, was the last one to vote at the Bridge Lounge, which closed voting at 7 p.m. He said he felt relieved when the process was finally over.

“I am a part of history,” Akindele said. “It just feels good.”

Barbara Funk, an election judge, said there were a lot of new voters.

“A lot of them were pretty excited,” Funk said. “Almost all of them wanted their ‘I voted’ stickers and receipts for class.”

Funk said there were a good number of spoiled ballots because of a high number of new voters.

“Some of them did not understand, so the machine would not accept the ballot and they had to start all over again,” she said.

During the voting process some students were not able to vote.

Tyler Johnson, a Coles County treasurer employee, was at the polls to take care of problems some of the voters had.

Johnson said some students were not able to vote because some were either registered back home or not registered at all.

“Hey, if you are going to be going to school here, just register here so you can vote,” he said.

Johnson said he felt good being a part of the election process for this election.

“It’s great,” Johnson said. “It is a civic duty.”

Funk said overall she thinks the students are doing much better with coming out to vote.

“We just want them to know how important (it) is,” Funk said. “It would be even nice to have more than we do now.”

As students voted in the Bridge Lounge, some were pleased about the easy-going process.

Karli Waters, a junior psychology major, said the election process was smooth.

“It took about five minutes,” Waters said. “There was really not a good reason not to vote.”

Waters said she felt excited to be a part of this election.

“We are at a time where a change needs to be made,” she said. “To take part in this is a really cool thing.”

Taylor BeLow, a freshman communications major, said this was her first time voting.

“I didn’t know who I should vote for, but I talked to my parents and finally I came down to a decision,” she said. “I think this election is going to be great.”

Below felt great to have a voice during this election.

“This will be in my children’s history books,” she said.

Amanda Bush, a senior communication studies major, said every election is important.

“My honest opinion is that this election is historic, but let’s not take advantage of that – every election is historic,” Bush said. “History is being made because there will be a new person with new ideas elected.”

Eric Wilber, chair for the Student Action Team, was an election judge. He said the job was exhausting, but fulfilling.

“Just to see the excitement they brought to the booths was great,” Wilber said.

Wilber said for those who did not vote, they cannot complain.

“We gave them every opportunity to register,” he said. “They are just stuck with whoever for the next four years.”

Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].