Brittany Velasco | Lindenlink Contributor

The morning weather did not stop Lincoln County voters from coming to cast their vote. On Nov. 6 at the Troy City Hall and Troy Courthouse, people stood outside in line to receive their ballot.

Lincoln County is primarily made up of members from the Republican Party, but a few of the polled voters were Independents.

At Troy City Hall, a campaign worker stood outside to encourage voters to vote yes on Proposition Life Matters.

“We want to improve the response times to get to sick or injured people in a timely fashion,” said Phillip Priest, a campaigner and paramedic.

Proposition Life Matters requires a tax raise to 30 cents to expand ambulance service. It will also cut the ambulance use fee from citizens in the nearby area of Troy. This proposition only went before Lincoln County for election.

Propositions and determining the president weren’t the only options on the ballot. This year, voters also had to elect Missouri’s senator. Republican nominee Todd Akin and incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill were the candidates.

“I did not vote for Todd Akin because of personal beliefs,” said Republican voter Ryan Wollock.

Todd Akin was recently criticized for his televised response to abortion justified in the case of rape saying, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Many Republicans voted against him for his comment, but Akin still had some support.

“Akin is Republican and we need to control the Senate,” said Republican voter Luke Whiston.

Jim Beauchamp, an Independent voter, voted for Akin because “it just seems like the right choice.”

Some voted for McCaskill in order to oppose Akin. Dana Manar, an Independent voter, voted Republican during the presidential election, but Democratic for the senatorial race.

“I did not like his (Akin’s) grounds on the issue and his actions afterwards,” said Manar.

Voters consider different reasons to pick a candidate. Some look at their policies and others looks at their stance on social issues.

Julie Ruyle is an Independent and votes by each candidate’s positions. The biggest issue to her is a candidate’s stance on abortion. While Ruyle wanted to keep her vote secret, she is sure she made an informed choice.

“I looked at the backgrounds of each candidate and looked at who matched my same morals,” said Ruyle.

Most of the voters kept up on the election by watching the debates and news coverage. No matter the weather, shivering citizens were confident in their voting.

“I just feel it’s important for everybody to get out and vote,” Manar said.