Throughout the East Coast, students on campus or living in off-campus apartments await the results. Some students fear riots and are driven with anxiety, while others distract themselves until results are determined.

In D.C., American University student Alejandro Irizarry is not worried about post-election disturbances where he lives. “D.C. is boarded up, but I’m not worried because Cleveland Park is more isolated than the rest of the city,” Irizarry said.

Irizarry doesn’t usually get “anxious over things he has no control over” and is not expecting immediate results if Biden doesn’t win Pennsylvania tonight. As for riots in D.C., Irizarry expects a lot downtown. “If Trump wins, there will definitely be a lot,” Irizarry said. “If Biden wins, there will be some but not even close to as much.”

More excited than anxious, Irizarry is spending election night watching the news and who wins each state with a drinking game and friends. In New Brunswick,  Rutgers University student Gabe Saiju is nervous and will spend most of his election night distracting himself with homework.

It took Saiju twice as long to fill out his mail-in ballot because he wanted to follow every direction to ensure his ballot is counted. After voting by mail, Saiju feels that there’s nothing more he can do. “I’m not going to lose sleep over it.”

Saiju said he expects a lot of civil unrest in New York, but only some unrest in Jersey if Trump wins. “Civil unrest is definitely happening,” Saiju said.

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The big decision for many college students is not who they will vote for but how they will cast their ballot. Many are taking into account the difficulties and reliability of mail-in ballots and risks of voting in-person during a pandemic.  

A Trump supporter, Resney has a strong distrust of mail-in ballots.  “Mail-in ballots are tossed in the trash,” he said. “Most people I know are voting in-person on the day.”

Safety and health are not a concern for Resney. “I’ll wear a mask for older people,” he said. “What would happen if I got it? It would be like two days of a dry throat, and then I’d be fine.”

Rachel Meyer, a biology student at the University of Nevada, voted in-person Oct. 29, choosing early voting to avoid lines on election day. “If the wait is longer than an hour, good luck getting me to wait in line,” Meyer said, laughing.

Like Resney, she believes that a mail-in ballot would either get lost or not be counted.. A Republican, along with her close and extended family, Meyer pointed to ballots tossed out in the primary election. About 6,700 ballots were thrown out in Nevada’s primary election because election officials couldn’t verify voter signatures, a Washington Post investigation concluded. 

Meyer found the voting process “super clean.” Poll workers wore masks and gloves, and made her feel very safe, Meyer said. Nevada early voting polls are open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Meyer didn’t wait on line at 8 p.m. when she went to vote with her father and sister.

David Hiott, a student at SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx, decided to vote by mail. “I voted by mail because I don’t really care all that much if it doesn’t get counted or gets lost or something. I know Delaware will vote blue.” Former vice president Joe Biden was a Senator from Delaware, and the state has voted blue since 1992. Hiott believes that most people in Delaware are voting for Biden, except those on the coast. 

On-campus for the fall semester, Hiott also chose to vote by mail for his safety, afraid of getting sick and bringing COVID back to campus. “My roommate has a weak immune system, and I’ve heard it affects people differently,” Hiott said. “If I don’t have to risk getting sick, I’m not going to.” 

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