Voting in Isla Vista was seemingly easy-going on Tuesday, a notable difference from when long lines wrapped around the Isla Vista Community Center for the 2024 presidential general election.

There were no long lines reported for the primary election as of late afternoon, and voters shared that they had a smooth voting experience.

The morning started with a handful of voters trickling into Isla Vista’s two polling places, the community center at 976 Embarcadero Del Mar and the Student Housing Cooperative at 777 Camino Pescadero. 

Matthew Roco-Calvo, a UC Santa Barbara student, said he had a simpler time voting on Tuesday than in years past. 

“I think that the staff in there is very helpful, helping you get set up. I’ve changed my address today, so everything felt super user-friendly in that experience,” Rocco-Calvo said. “The last election was super busy, so the wait times were pretty long, but this time I was able to vote straight away without having to wait too long.”

Rocco-Calvo said he planned on voting earlier in the day this year after having to wait in line for the 2024 election. 

In that presidential general election, Isla Vista voters experienced long lines, particularly at the community center due to voters going there rather than their designated polling place. 

There were also reports of polling places running out of ballots by midday and experiencing equipment issues, however, county officials refuted these claims.

To improve the voting experience, the Santa Barbara County Elections Office added additional elections officers, check-in stations, and “more efficient” paths of travel to the polling places, according to Martin Cobos, the chief deputy registrar of voters. 

There was also a full-time staff members in Isla Vista who was in direct communication with an elections supervisor, Cobos said. 

Cobos also noted that Isla Vista has a large number of first-time voters and it takes about ten minutes for polling places to process a first-time registrant. The community has a large college student population being adjacent to UC Santa Barbara.

Poll workers at the 777 Camino Pescadero polling place told Noozhawk that turnout had been pretty slow in the morning but they were expecting turnout to pick up in the afternoon.

By late afternoon, there still weren’t any significant lines at the polling places.

Vikesh Dheeriya, a fourth-year UCSB student, was also an early morning voter at the Isla Vista Community Center who said he had a smooth experience. 

“I just walked in, immediately felt welcomed,” Dheeriya said. “Super easy, just had to fill out my name and then guided to the electric ballot, and overall super easy calm experience.”

Dheeriya said he initially went to vote at the St. George Youth Center at 889 Camino Del Sur because he voted there in the past, only to learn that it wasn’t operating as a polling place on Tuesday.

“I feel like previously they’ve done a very good job of providing maps on where the available polling locations are,” Dheeriya said. “I think I feel like today could have been advertised a bit more. I haven’t seen anything online about this being an available location.”