It's Election Day across the country and in western Massachusetts voters are not only choosing a new president and various legislators, they also have 5 ballot questions to decide on.
Many voters are trying hard to keep the stress and and anxiety that comes with a major election, at bay.
Rick Lane, a retired teacher and administrator who voted Tuesday morning in Shelburne says you have to manage your anxiety.
"Oh my god it's going to go on for so long, you can't let that ruin your day," he said. "I guess it's the fact that I can't control what's going to happen. I can only control myself and how I feel."
Laurie Wheeler, also of Shelburne, has had pre-election anxiety.
"I have had so much anxiety and just kindda running terrified and really just hoping for the best," she said.
But, if the outcome of the election is not as she hopes, Wheeler said she has a plan for how to deal with another Trump presidency.
"Hunkering in and remembering that we are in a good, solid strong, community and in western Mass. and we can figure things out," she said. " And self care and taking care of other people because that's what we do really well around here, in small towns."
Gisella Diaz Torres, of Chicopee, cast her vote for Donald Trump.
"He's the best. He helped us a lot when he was in that chair [the presidency]," she said. "He's honest."
Bonnie Acevedo, also of Chicopee, cast her vote for Kamala Harris. She said protecting women's reproductive rights brought her to the polls.
"It'll never affect me because I am medically barren. I can't have any... then I think of my little sister who has had her third, and it almost ended her. And it could have," she said. "And no one, no family member, no father, mother, no one should go through that knowing that their loved one can just be gone over something so simple and something that is a basic human right and not just a right, but a necessity."
Acevedo said she believes in Harris and Tim Walz.
"I'm so glad she picked Walz. Finally, like a real down to earth salt of the earth... You could feel it with him, you know. Someone who actually feels like they're connected to the actual people, and not just someone who came from a political background and family. And it's just another generation taking their turn at bat. You know, it feels good."
Acevedo also voted for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the democratic incumbent running against Republican candidate John Deaton.
"Keep her there. She's doing great. If it ain't broke, don't fix it," she said.
In Ware Kelly Philbrick also voted for Harris to preserve a woman's right to have an abortion.
"I have four daughters. And if any of them wanted to do that and it was stripped away from them...So that was the main reason I came out today.," she said.
Marine veteran George Boudrea, also of Ware, said he voted Republican in large part because he believes Trump would support a ban on abortion.
"Every bit of fiber in my body says no to abortion. Unless a doctor says there's a medical reason for it," he said.
Trump has not said outright whether he would try to ban abortion but he spoke out in favor of the Supreme Court Ruling that overturned Roe V Wade. Harris has been adamant that she would try to preserve the right to abortion.
Voters in Chicopee had a range of issues that brought them out to the polls today. One being immigration and border security with some voters at saying they want to see the country's borders close. They also believe focus should be placed on strengthening the military to "defend the border. "
But voter Barthelemy Loua, an immigrant and now Chicopee resident, said this sentiment worries him.
"America is getting more and more divisive and the rhetoric out there is just getting scary, especially for immigrants. 'He's not from this country. He got to go.' And there are many injustices that are being done like that... that is scaring me. That's why I came to vote."
Loua said he just wants to see the country go down a "less violent path."
This is a developing story.
