This story first appeared in Arizona Luminaria. 

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday as Arizonans decided who will represent their parties in the presidential election this year.

March 19 was the primary election day for five states, including Arizona.

Arizona Luminaria visited several polling locations in Tucson to speak with people about what made them come out to vote. Here’s what they had to say:

Haleh Niazmand, First United Methodist Church

From approximately 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., few voters entered the site just off the University of Arizona campus. By noon, people from the Ceasefire AZ with Williamson campaign had arranged a table to begin handing out leaflets outside the voting center.

Haleh Niazmand and her fellow volunteers from the organization called passersby, asking if they were registered Democrats in Arizona. To those who answered yes, Niazmand handed out a leaflet encouraging votes for Marianne Williamson. Arizona doesn’t have an “uncommitted” option on the ballot like some other states, so activists supporting a cease-fire in Gaza are asking voters to choose Williamson as an alternative to Joe Biden.

“We are terrified of Donald Trump. We don’t want him to win. But we realized that President Biden has proven himself to be a very scary person,” Niazmand said.

Ceasefire AZ with Williamson is not endorsing Williamson as a presidential candidate, according to the flyer they handed out Tuesday. Their flyer said that a vote for Williamson is a strategic way to demand accountability for the Biden administration’s failure to support Gaza.

“A lot of young people, a lot of progressives, and a lot of people of color and Muslim and Arab Americans are not going to vote for [Biden] in the general election if he does not change course,” Niazmand said.

Chris, 60, St. James United Methodist Church

“Today is the day to vote! That’s why I’m out here,” Chris said.

Chris, who did not want to share her last name, said that with today being the primaries she thought it was important to come out and have her voice heard. She shared that she had cast her vote — albeit a little unhappily — for Biden.

Elda Young, 79, and Consuelo Abravo, 76, Woods Memorial Library

Young, a Republican for most of her life, and Abravo, “a Democrat all the way,” came to the polls as friends.

Young said she voted against Donald Trump in the primaries. She said it was an easy decision. Abravo said she voted for Biden as the Democratic candidate.

“I just think if [Trump] were to be elected again, the economy would get out of control and he would just be very bad for the country as a whole,” Young said passionately. “I am anti-Trump!”

Young had no problem sharing her presidential preferences because she said that it’s her ballot, her voice, and her opinion and she’s not afraid to share it.

“If it comes down to Trump and Biden in November, I will be voting Democrat,” she said.

Abravo, who is an immigrant from Lima, Peru, said she’s struggled everyday in this country, even as someone who was always documented.

For the undocumented migrants trying to enter the country, she said, the hardships in the United States are even more unwelcoming.

“This man, because he’s a Republican, says he’s going to send everyone back,” she said, about Trump’s immigration rhetoric. “He talks a lot of nonsense.”

Abravo served in the Vietnam War and her son was in the military for 30 years. She said her grandchildren are also in the military. None of these family members support Trump, she said.

Abravo prefers Biden. “I like him. The other men say he stutters. Who cares?” she said. “The other men say he doesn’t know where he is. [Trump] doesn’t know either.”

Meghan, 26, Woods Memorial Library

Meghan, who only shared her first name, said what brought her out to vote was just getting acclimated to a new community.

“I just moved here so I felt it was important to get involved in Arizona politics,” Meghan said.

While Meghan was happy to vote she wasn’t quite happy with the options.

“I just wish there was an uncommitted option,” she said with a shrug.

Peggy and Bob Sterner, 73 and 74, St. James United Methodist Church

“Well we usually vote by mail but we forgot!” Peggy Sterner said with a laugh while hitting her husband Bob on the arm.

The couple was glad they still had the chance to vote, just in person this time around.

“It’s the first day of spring so what better day to get outside and use your voice!” Bob said with a smile.

The couple also enthusiastically shared that they both voted for the current president.

Jamil Beecher, Woods Memorial Library

“If you’re not happy with your choices, you need to be more interested in the primaries,” Beecher said.

Beecher said her mail-in ballot favored someone who has since dropped out of the race.  She went to the polls to ask if she could change her vote.

Esther, 69, St. James Methodist Church

Esther, who only wanted to share her first name, said voting is important even with recent claims of fraudulent elections.

“I think people should be involved and responsibly investigating each of the candidates,” she said.

Following the candidates is important if voters want to make a better world, Esther said.

As a decades-long follower of Trump, Esther voted for him in the primaries. She said she likes his business models.

“Yeah, he’s a little arrogant,” she said. “But when you’re that wealthy and that famous, I guess it might get to your head.”

Esther said Trump is brave and strong. She said he improved the workforce and lowered inflation as president, even in a corrupt system.

“Now things are changing and a new system is coming into place,” Esther said.

J Bowders, Woods Memorial Library

“I think it’s important to exercise our constitutional right. We have a voice,” Bowders said. “There wasn’t a lot of choice, it’s a pretty straightforward thing. But I still think the practice of it is really important.”

Bowders voted as a Democrat who “believes in equality,” but encouraged everyone to vote, no matter their party affiliation.