By Henry Chan and Michael Stasiak

Long lines characterized Election Day 2008. But, for many, the wait was worth it. And the free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s was delicious.

NYU played an important part in Election Day, resulting in lines around the block at the four dorms serving as polling places: UHall, Carlyle, Coral, and Hayden.

At Kimmel, the NYU College Democrats and the NYU Students for Obama were calling swing state voters and urging them to vote in their Last Call for Change. According to Miranda, a member of NYU Students for Obama, some members of the two groups went to Pennsylvania last weekend to recruit volunteers to watch lines at the polling places and to serve as drivers for those voters who couldn’t make it to the polls on their own

It was exciting to see students actually giving a damn and getting results.

Last night, the NYU College Democrats loaded in and loaded up at The Hill (3rd Avenue, between 29th and 30th), creating their own situation room in the upstairs portion of the bar. They started slowly: Blue Ribbon and Yuengling drafts as the Virginia polls closed, and light banter amid furtive glances towards the television screens and laptops around the room.

But by the time MSNBC announced Ohio for Obama, the Dems were downing tequila shots, dumping the casual optimism from the beginning of the evening, and declaring a hard-won victory at around 9:45.

“We won!” said some, as Ohio’s electoral votes came through. “We did it. How does it feel to be a winner?”

Photos by Michael Stasiak