Ariela Lopez, contributing photographer

11:08 a.m., City Hall

It has been five hours since registration and voting began at City Hall on the same day. Salvador Gómez-Colón '25 said he waited in line for exactly 2.5 hours before registering. At least five people immediately left within 20 minutes after seeing how long the line was.

Dominic Tammaro, New Haven's public liability investigator, moderated the same-day registration. He says he has never seen turnout like this in recent election years and that it is unexpected since New Haven registered 8,000 voters in early voting and the last two weeks have seen over 1,000 same-day registrations.

So far today, 184 ballot papers have been handed out at the polling station.

Gómez-Colón, like other students, expressed difficulty requesting an absentee ballot. He chose to vote in New Haven after missing the deadline to register in Puerto Rico and cast his vote for the Harris-Walz ticket in the presidential election.

“Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote for president even though we are American citizens,” Gómez-Colón said. He added that both local elections in Puerto Rico are equally important, but given the circumstances, he is “excited to cast his vote in the presidential race.”

— Asuka Koda, staff reporter

11:07 a.m., District 7, downtown

Cat McCann, the academic coordinator of the department of pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine, voted for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“Well, there’s a clear decision for me because I’m transgender,” McCann said. “I want to help make the country a better and more livable place for everyone – not just for people like me.”

McCann also voted for the No-Excuse Absentee Voting Amendment, a proposal that would expand absentee voting in Connecticut. They said the measure would particularly benefit people with disabilities and residents who cannot take time off work to vote.

– Michelle So, contributing reporter

10:56 a.m., District 7, downtown

So far, more than 300 people have cast their votes in Ward 7 downtown. Election moderator Jayuan Carter said voter turnout this year was “comparable to (other) presidential election years.”

“There is a (turnout) pattern of pre-work, lunch break and after-work wave,” Carter said.

Joseph Ehrenpreis MUS '25 went to the polls to support Kamala Harris, motivated by the issue of women's health.

“If Kamala wins, we will never have to think about Trump again,” Ehrenpreis said.

—Michelle So, contributing reporter

9:40 a.m., downtown

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, seeking an 18th term representing Connecticut's 3rd Congressional District based in New Haven, voted at the New Haven Free Public Library at 133 Elm St.

After her black SUV pulled up at 9:15 a.m., DeLauro got out and said, “Let's do it, let's go vote.” She and her husband, Stan Greenberg, were the only voters who cast their ballots in the library basement.

On her way out, DeLauro expressed optimism that Democrats would win back the House, an outcome that would likely return her as chairman of the House Budget Committee. And she said she believes Vice President Kamala Harris will beat former President Donald Trump. “I'm watching what's happening around the country, listening to people – there's a lot of excitement,” she told the News. “I look at where women stand on the issues and they come to light.”

Before and during DeLauro's stop, three employees in her New Haven office, taking a day off from official work, held campaign signs at the corner of Temple and Elm streets. They were joined by numerous cars driving by and a US Foods truck honking its horn.

— Ethan Wolin, staff reporter

9:35 a.m., City Hall

The queue for same-day registration has now formed entirely around the atrium outside the Board of Alders Chamber at Town Hall, although new registrants are arriving every few seconds.

A voter at the front of the line told the News he waited an hour and a half.

Thomasin Schmults '26 requested an absentee ballot in Massachusetts but never received one.

Schmults, who is voting for Harris, said she is doing last-minute research on state elections and ballot initiatives since she now votes in Connecticut.

Maria Guerrero GRD '29 said she waited almost an hour to register. Guerrero, who is voting for Harris, had missed the deadline to vote in her home state of Florida but felt she had to vote.

“I want to make history,” she said. “I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history by saying I didn’t vote.”

— Zachary Suri, staff reporter

8:39 a.m., District 7, Ninth Square

Democratic State Representative Ronald Lemar, who is running for re-election, joined Alder Eli Sabin of District 7 in front of the city office building at 200 Orange St., which houses the district's polling place.

Lemar said he is confident about his own election and the prospects of Democrats across the country.

There were no visible lines outside the polling station, which Lemar attributed to voter exploitation Early Choices. Ward 9 Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith, stationed outside the East Rock Community Magnet School in her ward, shared a similar observation.

“You no longer have to stand in line at 5:15 p.m. to vote before work,” Lemar said.

Lemar will vote in District 8 later today, he said.

— Ariela Lopez, staff reporter

8:00 a.m., City Hall

At City Hall, New Haven's only same-day voter registration site, over a hundred voters line up to register and vote.

According to a poll worker, the current wait time is about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

While the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life instructed Yale students in a Nov. 1 email to go directly to the Meeting 1 registration room on the second floor, Yale students were instead turned away and asked to stand in the long line to pose with other voters.

When Patton Hahn '28 learned of the long wait, he quickly emailed his literature professor to let him know he would be skipping his 9 a.m. class to vote.

— Baala Shakya, contributing reporter

7:00 a.m., District 18, Morris Cove

At Nathan Hale School in Morris Cove, New Haven's Ward 18, a few dozen voters were already lined up when the polls opened at 6 a.m

District 18 has seen historically high voter turnout in recent election cycles – the New Haven-Tweed Airport expansion has galvanized voters in the district. As the sun rose Tuesday, an army of lawn signs surrounded the school.

Roseann Chatterton and Chris Avallone, co-chairs of the township's Democratic Town Committee, set up a table outside the school at 5:20 a.m. to hand out ballot information materials to Democrats.

Chatterton, who voted early, said she was optimistic about the election results.

“The polls have been wrong for the last two years,” she said, referring to the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterm elections. “I don’t put too much stock in polls.”

She said she was particularly hopeful for Democrats' success after seeing how many college-age voters – particularly women – lined up to register on the same day when she went to the polls earlier.

District 18 is also one of New Haven's most politically diverse districts and has had the most Republican voters in the last three general elections. In the 2020 presidential election, 39.3 percent of county voters — 861 people — voted for former President Donald Trump, more than any other county in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Aidan Virtue, a Morris Cove resident who works in construction, voted for Trump early Tuesday morning. Virtue noted that high taxes, “big government” and illegal immigration are the key issues for him this election season.

“I hated Trump in 2016,” Virtue said. “But in early 2017, I loved the guy because I saw gas prices going down, energy prices going down, the cost of living going down.”

As of 7 a.m., 169 voters in District 18 had cast their votes.

— Ariela Lopez, staff reporter

6:00 am

Election day is here. Voters in New Haven and across the country are going to the polls to elect a new president. Connecticut's ballots also include elections for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and the state's General Assembly, as well as local voter rolls and a question on whether to allow the expansion of mail-in voting.

More than 9,000 New Havens already voted during two weeks of early voting, which Connecticut implemented for the first time in a general election. By Sunday, additional postal ballots from 1,700 residents had arrived.

Polling stations are open today from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. This Connecticut government website can help you find your polling place. This document lists where residents of each residential building at Yale can vote. If you are not registered to vote, you can do so at City Hall today.

News will provide live updates here throughout the day and once results are in this evening.

— Ethan Wolin, staff reporter

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