A long standing question in the months leading up to the election has been whether or not the youth would come out to the polls, and at ASU, young voters have arrived in strides to cast their ballots.
The polling location on ASU’s Tempe campus, located in the Palo Verde West residence hall, reportedly had a wait time of over two hours at 2 p.m. this afternoon, according to voters waiting in line.
Crowds wrapped around nearby residence halls and buildings, with a fair portion of the crowd waiting directly in the sun.
While the polling place by ASU's Tempe campus was filled, polling locations near ASU's downtown and West campuses were significantly less busy in the mid-afternoon.
The midterm elections have already spurred record turnout numbers across Arizona and the nation.
Read more: Early voter numbers pave way for historic election turnout in Arizona
Around a half-dozen Arizona candidates, including gubernatorial candidate David Garcia and superintendent for public instruction candidate Kathy Hoffman, greeted voters to give their last minute pitches.
People gathered around to help those who were waiting in the heat, some groups offered water or pizza while others handed out voter pamphlets and allowed voters to pet their dogs while they waited in the line.
The excessive wait times prompted a response on Twitter from Maricopa County Recorder, Adrian Fontes, who said that officials were working to set up additional equipment to check in more voters waiting at ASU's Tempe campus.
Students said they were unfazed by the line and wait time.
Traven Campbell, a senior studying business communications and human relations, had already been waiting for 45 minutes and was not even to the halfway point in the line.
Despite this, Campbell said he would wait as long as needed so he could vote.
“I don’t like a lot of the government,” he said. “I want to change things.”
Joe Davis, a freshman studying graphic design, had already been waiting over an hour and was less than half way through the line.
“It’s my first time being able to vote and I really want to take advantage of that,” he said.
Davis said that Americans should take advantage of the chance to vote, even if the line is long, because other countries do not get that opportunity.
“I think it’s immoral to not take advantage of this,” he said. “We need to speak up for our rights and things that we want to see changed.”
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