Where six first-time voters with ties to the Summit ended up in the 2024 election

As Max Graham queued at his polling station at Guildford Town Hall in Seville on Tuesday, a polling officer heard him say it would be his first time vote.

“We have a first-time voter in our house!” – announced the polling station employee.

Cheers and applause erupted inside the small building that once stood on its porch during the last election with a rooster greeting voters.

Graham, 18, who admitted he was a little nervous, appreciated the support.

“I feel pretty good,” Graham, a University of Akron student, said after voting. “I was nervous because I had never done this before. I’m glad I did it.”

Graham is among six voters with ties to Summit County and varied backgrounds whom the Beacon Journal has been following since late July as they prepared to vote for the first time in the presidential election.

The Beacon Journal brought voters together to watch the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in October. After the debate, four voters said they planned to support Trump, one backed Harris, and the last one remained undecided.

Two first-time voters cast ballots on the first day of early voting

Two voters vote October 8first day of early voting.

After months of deliberation, Samantha Byake Mutebi, 27, a new citizen living in Akron, decided not to vote for president. She said she doesn’t care about Trump or Harris and doesn’t know enough about independent presidential candidates to choose one.

Mutebi, however, was happy to vote for the first time and made his choice in other races. She is a Ugandan refugee born in Congo.

“Now I feel like a real American,” she said.

Angel Sobolewski, 21, a Stark State College student who lives in Copley, stuck to her plan to vote for Trump on the first day of early voting.

She then recorded a video on Instagram in which she was wearing a Trump hat and holding an “Ohio Voted” sticker.

One first-time voter voted a week before the election

Sydney Montique decided to vote on the Monday before Election Day.

Montique, 20, a University of Akron student from East Cleveland, arrived early and didn’t have to wait long at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. She was concerned about the possibility of long lines on Election Day.

Montique said from the beginning that she planned to support Harris, and she followed through on that plan.

“She’s a black woman like me,” she said. “I’m really excited about this and I feel like it’s time for a change.”

Montique wonders why most political candidates are older white men. She believes most minority candidates are ignored, including those running independently.

Montique is majoring in business finance at the University of Akron. She works with the College Democrats at UA to help students register to vote.

While voting for President, she also focused on Issue 1, which she supported.

“I think it’s very important,” Montique said. “Me and my mom talked about it. This is about more than who is the next president, but what happens in our communities.”

The issue, which would have redrawn congressional and legislative district lines, was defeated at the polls.

Montique said she found the voting process simple and did not pose any problems.

“I’m glad I was able to do my due diligence,” she said.

18-year-old girl has been waiting for the vote for many years

Registering to vote was one of the first things Graham did on his 18th birthday in May.

He decided to wait until Election Day to vote because it would be his first time.

“I thought voting was an important process,” he said. “I wanted to see that process unfold rather than just mailing in ballots.”

Graham was unimpressed with the presidential debate in September, but was pleased with the vice presidential debate in October. He said the debate helped him feel more comfortable with Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate.

“It kind of solidified my choice,” he said.

Graham, who voted for Trump on Tuesday, said he supported him because of his hard-line stance on immigration and views on abortion.

After doing his research, Graham decided to vote against Question 1. He said he didn’t like what he learned about money from out-of-state companies going to the campaign. He also found the ballot language confusing.

Graham did not vote in the State Board of Education race. He said he was not satisfied with the information he was able to find about the candidates in the nonpartisan race.

Outside Graham’s polling place, he ran into Caden Wertz, a friend who was also voting for the first time. Wertz said his sister told him she was going to vote, and he realized, “I need to vote too!”

Graham went to the polls with his mother and father Cami and Andy.

“I’m very proud of him,” Cami said later.

“He was looking forward to voting,” Andy said.

Cami said Max has been waiting to vote since he was 6 years old.

“It was a great experience for the whole family,” she said.

A voter who was undecided about Trump ultimately backed him.

Dylan Leipold had planned to vote early by mail, but put off requesting a ballot and, with Election Day quickly approaching, decided to vote that day instead.

Leipold, 21, a University of Akron student from Cuyahoga Falls, was disillusioned with both candidates after the presidential debate and wasn’t sure whether he should support Trump as he had planned.

But after the vice presidential debate, Leipold said Vance, Trump’s running mate, had locked in his vote.

“That was his whole campaign – to go there and answer difficult questions. I feel like he did it very well,” he said.

Leipold said the debate between Vance and Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, resembled a presidential debate.

“It felt like you were in the Twilight Zone,” Leipold said. “I would be more enthusiastic about this election if these two (Vance and Walz) were running.”

Leipold waited about 40 minutes on Election Day to vote for Trump.

“I can live the life I want and be safe,” he said. “Trump and Vance are the only people I see who are effective in protecting me. They love this country, and I love this country.”

Before the vote, the only question Leipold wanted to know more about was Question 1.

“I don’t really trust the ads I see,” said Leipold, who voted against the statewide question.

Undecided new voter leans toward supporting Trump

Days before the election, the Akron resident is still undecided on who he will choose in his first ballot for president.

Olori Manns, 49, never voted because he thought his vote didn’t matter. However, he changed his mind when he got a job registering voters with Freedom BLOC, an Akron nonprofit group.

Manns remained undecided on who he would support for president after the presidential debates. He said he started leaning toward Harris because he wanted to support the first female president, but then wondered why. He compared it to people who support a sports team but have no idea why they support that team.

“I have to ask myself, what is it that really interests me about this?” he said in a recent interview.

Manns, who used to live in New York, said he was drawn to supporting Trump.

“This guy just does things differently,” Manns said. “Its history goes back a long way. He’s a New Yorker.”

The Beacon Journal planned to accompany Manns when he voted Tuesday afternoon, but he could not be reached that day or in the days that followed. It is unknown whether he voted.

Reaction of voters who took part in the first vote to the results of the presidential election

Because half of first-time voters supported Trump, they were happy with the election result.

“I hope that Donald Trump will use this term to finish what he started – to make America great again and improve our way of life in this country,” Sobolevsky said.

She hopes this will lead to positive impacts such as more jobs, food availability and lower taxes.

Sobolewski wore a Trump costume to a party at the University of Akron on election night. She spent the night tweeting as she watched Bernie Moreno win the Ohio Senate race, defeating incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Kevin Coughlin lose his challenge to U.S. Rep. Amelia Sykes in the Ohio election.^th district

Montique, who had hoped Harris would become the first black woman in the Oval Office, also attended the party at UA. After the results came in Wednesday morning, she said she was “heartbroken.”

Although Mutebi did not vote for president, she said she believed it was time to focus on what was important now that everyone had voted.

“How do we fix our communities and make them safe for everyone?” asked Mutebi. “Unity is imperative at this stage.”

Graham, who supported Trump, said he was glad to have the “privilege of voting in a historic and exciting election.”

“I’m interested to see how the next few years go and I look forward to voting in all elections in the future,” he said.

Leipold, who also voted for Trump, had a message for anyone worried about the future. He said the United States “was, is and always will be in the hands of God. We’ll be fine.”

“Pray for our leaders, make peace with your friends and families and be grateful to live in this great country,” he said.

Stephanie Worsmith can be contacted at: [email protected] or 330-996-3705. Alisson Toro-Lagos can be reached at [email protected].