Charlotte voting this year a friendly experience
As people filed in and out of town hall to and from casting their ballots Tuesday, most seemed to come away from the experience reflecting on the friendly atmosphere.
“It’s really a nice, relaxed, laid-back approach,” said Don Goodwin, a five-year resident and an Election Day poll worker. “I mean, look, it’s a small town.”
He said the turnout that day had been high, the usual for Charlotte.
“It pretty much runs along the same lines of Chittenden County, northwest Vermont,” he said. “It’s pretty blue.”
Goodwin added there’s not a lot of anxiety about races in the state, but there is anxiety about the outcome nationally.
“It’s an older community, and there’s a lot of people, like myself, who are dependent upon Medicare,” he said. “People don’t really like the things being said on the other side about that.”
The upside: People here seem more willing to have conversations across political divides, Goodwin said. “A lot of the country has a problem with that, unfortunately.”
Teresa Pete, 76, cast her vote Tuesday — as usual. “I have never missed a vote in my entire life,” the Charlotte resident said.
Pete opted to vote in person because she was worried her ballot might get lost or delayed in the mail otherwise. She was worried, too, “that there might be some cheating.”
“If I’m here in person, then I know it counts,” said Pete, who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race. “I’m cautiously optimistic that the young people, and particularly women, will pull us out of this morass of hatred.”
Karen Frost, a longtime voter and resident since 1985, decided to vote by mail rather than in-person this year.
On Election Day, you could find her at town hall, collecting resident opinions on whether the selectboard should be able to make land-use regulation decisions without a townwide vote.
“It’s a recent change, and I wanted to find out what the citizens of Charlotte thought about it,” Frost said.
Frost said she enjoys seeing residents face to face and having conversations with them.
“I always find it interesting to hear different people’s opinions and points of view,” she said. “It seems to be pretty one-sided on this one.”
Heather Roberts, who was running for justice of the peace, was out on Election Day with her husband Mikey and son Jesse to cast their votes.
The family moved to Charlotte in 2021, seeking a better quality of life and school system.
“We love Charlotte and are happy to be residents,” Heather said. “I’ve been wanting to get more involved in the community, so I decided to put my hat in the ring.”
She said, “Hopefully I’ve earned enough votes to serve my community.”
Jesse, who was voting for the first time, was especially excited to see his mom on the ballot.
(Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship.)