After more than nine hours of voting, election judges and officials report high turnout rates at many on-campus polling places.

At about 3 p.m., Snyder Hall had the highest reported number of voters with 750. The Illini Union Pine Lounge was close behind with 747 voters. Election judges at the University YMCA reported 666 voters and judges at Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls reported 632.

“This is one of the most important elections of our lifetime and college students are generally passionate about politics and the fate of the country,” said Cody Bralts, a 16-year-old election judge and student at Urbana High School.

Hannah Lebovitz, a freshman in media who voted at Snyder Hall echoed his sentiments.

“This election will be historic no matter what happens,” she said. Lebovitz chose to vote today, rather than on an early ballot and said that early voting would be “anticlimactic.”

Selam Totonchi, a freshman in LAS, who is not yet a United States citizen said he did not regret the fact that he could not vote in the “exciting” presidential election.

“Actually, this one is more fun to just watch,” said Totonchi.

Lloyd Winston, an election judge at the Florida Avenue Residence Hall polling place said, “It’s great to see the enthusiasm of students. They should be commended for voting.”

Winston said he had been judging elections for the past seven years but this election was “bigger than its ever been.”

At mid-day Winston said he had seen over 500 voters at the FAR polling place.

The crowds include many first-time voters like sophomore in engineering Kyleigh Vincent.

“It was fun getting to express how I feel,” said Vincent.

Erik Allgood, Emily Bardales, Kelly Gibbs, Megan Graham, Alissa Groeninger, Hannah Hess, Crystal Kang, and Rosie Powers and Marie Wilson contributed to this report.