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, said 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 Massachusetts are weighing five ballot measures, including giving union rights to drivers for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. The drivers are considered independent contractors who don't have the right to unionize under federal law. Other questions in today's election would eliminate the use of the MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement, allow the state auditor to audit the legislature, and gradually increase the minimum hourly wage for workers who collect tips.
Ballot Question 4 asks voters whether to legalize several types of psychedelic drugs - not for retail sales but for personal growing and sharing, and for use at commercial healing centers.
Lynn Macri, of Belchertown, said she voted yes on Question 4 because psychedelics could help improve mental health problems that don't have other pharmaceutical remedies.
"And these psychedelic things, they may not be a remedy either, but if people are going overseas to get them, I think they should be able to stay at home and get them under supervised, legally supervised circumstances," she said.
But Maria Pellegrini of Belchertown voted no because she's worried legalizing psychedelics would set a dangerous precedent.
"I think you'll open a door for whatever reason, and, um, it could be mismanaged and abused. And I was not for the legalization of marijuana, so definitely not for this," she said.
As in all ballot questions, legislators would have the right to amend the law if it passes.
Some voters were hesitant to share who they voted for, but said they always vote in local and national elections.
Ana Fontanez voted in Springfield.
"I always vote... We have to move forward, because if we don't vote, things will get worse than what they already are," she said in Spanish.
Fontanez is a native of Puerto Rico but said she has lived in the area for so many years that her focus has been on the elections in Massachusetts.
Springfield voters have come out "in droves" to vote today, according to Gladys Oyola-Lopez, the city's election commissioner and clerk.
She said voter turnout so far mirrors that of the 2008 and 2012 elections when Barack Obama ran was running.
"In a presidential campaign, it could be anywhere between 40 and 60 percent that come out. That's including the early voters. I think we've seen more early voters this election cycle than we have in past years," she said.
Oyola-Lopez said the excitement had many people lining up early.
"We had voters lined up at 6:30 in the morning already. It was surprising to me because it wasn't a one off. It wasn't just in one part of the city. It was citywide — from Ward 1 all the way up to Ward 8," she said. "There were lines at the door before the polls opened.
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."
Polls in Massachusetts close at 8 p.m.
