Falls voters choose sides in presidential election

Nov. 5—For Niagara Falls resident Andy Belkota, the choice in this year's presidential election was a no-brainer.

He voted for Republican Donald Trump at his polling place at 79th Street School in the LaSalle section of the city.

He cited the state of the economy as his primary reason, with immigration trailing close behind.

I truly believe after four years of Biden it's time for a change," said 49-year-old Belkota. "I mean, plain and simple."

Belkota said in the past four years he's felt like his family is "losing money," saying, "Everything's expensive, immigration is horrible and crime is up."

While Belkota acknowledged Trump has some issues of his own, including an at-times abrasive personality, he still considered him the better choice over Harris.

"As much as he's a loud mouth and he's outspoken in certain things, we didn't have war. We didn't have any problems with money. Gas prices were down. It's just a matter of all that. You look at the big picture. In the overall picture of things, I think we need change."

It was the first time voting in a presidential election for 20-year-old Falls resident Haleigh Routhier who cited a concern commonly raised among voters interviewed on Tuesday — protecting women's right to choose.

She said she came out to exercise her right to vote because she wanted to protect reproductive rights, women's rights in general and the rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

"I think this election is very important," she said. "I know it is for me. I think it's important to vote whenever, but I think this one is just very, very important. I think that it's a matter of living comfortably and being happy and safe compared to living in fear."

"I think human freedom and equality is very important," she added.

Fellow Falls voter Sara Craig said she too considered it especially important to vote in this year's election. She also considered protecting women's reproductive rights as a top priority while casting her vote.

"It's important to make sure you are heard to me and when we can vote we do vote," she said. "You can't complain about anything if you don't show up here."

"I'm more focused on women's rights and the right to keep them," she added.

Shakera Smith and her husband found themselves divided within their house in terms of presidential election voting this year.

While her husband voted for Trump, Smith said she backed Harris.

Smith said she voted for Trump in 2020 but changed her mind this year primarily due to her interest in protecting women's reproductive rights.

"I have a daughter and she is 25 years old and I want her to be able to have the right to have a baby and make her own decisions about having a baby," she said. "Really, that's the big thing for me."

In general, Smith said, she considered Harris the "lesser of two evils," noting that she did not consider the vice president to be particularly stronger than Trump on key issues like the economy but felt, overall, she was the right choice for her this year.

Smith said she felt this year's race highlighted one of her biggest concerns about America and that's a general decline in the grace and decorum of the candidates, Harris and Trump included.

"Now there's just no respect," she said. "If it's like this now, what's it going to be like 20 years from now?"

Voters were asked if they thought the winner of the presidential election — Harris or Trump — would have any sort of direct impact on the state of City of Niagara Falls in the four years to come.

"Honestly, I hope that they can do something," Routhier said. "I think that the Falls has the potential to be just a wonderful area. I think that under the right guidance, it can get there. Hopefully we can get people to work on more jobs, work on the housing downtown."

"I hope so because I hope there would be overall changes in the country so we would have to be affected," Craig said.

There were no major issues reported at county polling sites Tuesday.

Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Lora Allen said the only issues with voting they've had so far involve someone finding out they're not registered or they're at the wrong polling site.

Custodians are on hand at the polling locations to check out any technical issues that may occur with the voting machines.

"Turnout has been good at most sites," said Allen Tuesday morning.

Niagara County Sheriff's deputies and local police officers were also present at polling sites making sure they were all safe.

County residents had set a new record for early voting, with 32,996 people voting between Oct. 26 and Sunday, nearly 20% of the registered voters.