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Many Syracuse University students will cast their first presidential ballots today when they head to the polls to vote in the 2024 United States general elections.

Current polling suggests the 2024 presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris could be one of the tightest in U.S. history, the New York Times reported Monday. SU also lies within New York’s 22nd Congressional district, a race drawing national attention for its potential to shift the House of Representatives’ party majority.

The Daily Orange has compiled last-minute tips to navigate 2024 Election Day on campus.

Voting on Election Day

New York state polling stations will be open to registered in-person voters from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

There are 146 polling places in Onondaga County, including 44 in the city of Syracuse. There are two locations at SU — Huntington Hall on North Campus and Goldstein Student Center on South Campus.

Registered New York voters may only cast their ballot at the polling place assigned to them by the New York State Board of Elections. Voters can check their assigned poll site on the state Board of Elections’ “Poll Site Search, Voter Registration, and Mail Ballot Tracker,” which can be found on its website.

For mail-in and absentee voters in New York, ballots must be postmarked by 11:59 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. Voters can also drop off their mail-in ballots at their County Board of Elections Office or a local poll site before they close at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The New York Office of the Attorney General is running an Election Protection Hotline, where people can call in with voting-related questions and report any potential violations of voting rights. The hotline can be reached at (866) 390-2992 or through the office’s online complaint form.

Hailey Hoang | Design Editor

Finding election results

Each U.S. state conducts and certifies its own ballot counts, and unofficial results will begin to come in throughout the night as polls close. Results will not be finalized until each state’s Board of Elections independently certifies its respective counts.

The New York BOE will begin posting unofficial election results to its Election Night Reporting Page after polls close, using data from each county in the state. After each county certifies its respective vote count, final certification will then go to the state BOE.

Several national and local news organizations will post their own result forecasts on election night and in the following days. Many of these outlets rely on Associated Press data to call the thousands of races across the country. Other election trackers include Reuters and 270toWin.

The D.O. will publish election results for local, state and presidential races as they are verified.

Election Day mental health resources

According to the American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America 2024” survey, 69% of adults across the country cited the 2024 U.S. presidential election as a “significant source of stress.” Even more — around 77% — said they were stressed about the “future of our nation.”

The APA reported this anxiety has increased over the past two election cycles. In 2016, the percentage of Americans who were significantly stressed about the presidential elections sat at about 52%.

SU students can access on-campus mental health services through the Barnes Center at The Arch. Some resources include individual and group counseling, pet therapy and mindfulness programs. Barnes can be reached 24/7 at (315) 443-8000.

Barnes also offers students a free premium subscription to Headspace, a self-guided mental health support app, through the university. Headspace currently offers a “Politics Without Panic: Your election season survival guide” module.

Hendricks Chapel also offers multiple religious and spiritual resources, as well as meditation year-round.

Published on November 5, 2024 at 12:00 am

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu