In a time of contentious politics, attack mailers, online pile-ons and social divisions, it can be hard to talk to strangers about voting.

Even so, journalists often hang around polling locations on election day waiting to ask voters to reflect publicly on the private act of casting a ballot for their chosen candidates. It’s part of a reporter’s duty to monitor how well our democracy is functioning. And every election, no matter how divisive, a few stop and talk about what voting means to them. 

Co-owner of Western AF, photographer, cinematographer and community glue Mike Vanata was able to take a few portraits of kind strangers around Laramie and Cheyenne polling locations Tuesday, but not without many more skirting around him and WyoFile reporters. 

“When photographing the election, I was stunned how guarded everyone was,” he said. “I’m usually pretty good at gaining trust before I take a picture of someone. But most of them acted like I was some kind of monster.”

“I know that’s nothing supernatural for a reporter,” Vanata added, “but it was weird to see so much fear with all of my neighbors.” 

But not all voters shied away from the camera. Here are just some of Vanata’s portraits from the polls.

A couple stand outside a polling location

Captions starting in the upper right corner moving in a clockwise direction: Ethan and Leslie Eshelman hold baby Owen outside the Storey Gym voting location on Aug. 20; Melanie (left) and Amanda Sinnott walk into the Kiwanis Community House polling place in Cheyenne; Bo Paulsrud said there wasn’t much on the ballot for registered Democrats on primary day, but he still felt it was important to vote; Carol Matteson Pascal cast her ballot at the Story Gym in Cheyenne on Aug. 20, 2024; Pollwatcher Janelle Larsen kept an eye on things at the Kiwanis Community House polling location during the Aug. 20 primary; Howard Last retired in Wyoming from New York. He says he likes it better here, especially the people; Velma and Augie Vialpando voted in the Aug. 20 primary because it was their civic duty. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile)

Madelyn Beck reports from Laramie on health and public safety. Before working with WyoFile, she was a public radio journalist reporting for NPR stations across the Mountain West, covering regional issues...

Join the Conversation

2 Comments

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Democracy meaning your vote doesn’t matter other than picking from a slew of MAGA-ers who are all the same?

    Reply
  2. Reply