With one of the largest voter turnouts in American history, national politics has taken a front-row seat on the minds of citizens. In Kootenai County, it is no different.

For first-time voter Kristina Ford, 18, attending the polls tomorrow is an important milestone.

"I feel like a lot of our freedoms right now are at stake, which is the most important to me," Ford said. "Our freedom of speech, our Second Amendment rights, all of those issues. That's the thing I'm most stressed about with this election.

I feel like people are trying to vote away our freedoms."

To Ford, a self-described patriot and follower of Idaho's conservative values, this year's election is drastically different and has pitted political parties against each other.

"Honestly, I hate the division in our country. I think that it's ridiculous that we can't be friends with people who have other opinions," she said. "Obviously, we both have our parties that want to win, but they are so polar opposite this year."

This division was not only apparent to Ford but many residents across the county.

Norman "The Stickman" Oss, 73, is also voting in person tomorrow. He's seen this election affect not only the political sphere but personal relationships.

"A lot of people are losing their friends and their family because they get together, start talking about politics, and that's the last time they get together," Oss said. "People that have known each other for 30 years find out you're Republican or a Democrat, and the next thing you know, they don't want anything to do with you."

Oss and his friend, Richard Blow, were out on a walk Monday afternoon when stopped for an interview. Afterward, Blow, 77, was thankful they could discuss politics without confrontation.

"The last time I had conversations about politics like this was during Vietnam," Blow said.

Blow isn't fond of the current state of the nation, he has no problem with conservatives or Republicans, but his view of the presidency is grim.

"I think that we have an autocratic president that does whatever he wants without accountability," he said. "He has a free for all, does whatever he wants, and I think that's why the nation is changing."

From a global pandemic to protests, some residents, like Mike Walter, see the election as another potential crisis.

"I'm worried if this election is going to do any good," Walter, 65, said. "I think if Trump loses, he's going to shut everything down. It doesn't look good to me."

Both parties have their faults, which has led to residents like John Bowers, 41, to opt-out of participating in this year's election. Bowers doesn't like either of the two candidates and believes the two-party system that has steadily developed since the nation's inception is detrimental to a stable political process.

"I almost feel like they've come up with the Democratic and Republican parties to divide people," Bowers said. "Right now, they have it, so if Trump or Biden is elected either way there is going to be some horrible reaction, and I don't think it's supposed to be like that."

Bowers sees the national divide as a result of a lack of open conversation and civility between voters when discussing significant economic, social, and political issues.

"It just seems like they have the liberals painted one way and the conservatives painted one way, and I don't think we are supposed to be as diabolically divided," Bowers said. "I feel like we should have more of an understanding of right and wrong than liberal and conservative."

With a mass of information distributed across media sites, first-time voter Asiah Brazil-Geyshick, 19, said her decision has become more clouded.

"I think there are a lot of catfights in the elections, and I think it's a little petty, like when Trump and Biden would debate," she said. "I understand why they are catfighting, but I think they should be a little more mature in the way they do it."

Others, like Stephen Thornton, 52, are strong in their beliefs and believe disseminating information is inspiring more people to become involved in politics.

"Everything to me has gotten exposed," Thornton said. "Even people that didn't use to pay attention to politics are aware. I have two boys who are 22 and 19, and just this last cycle, they've really started paying attention."

The exposure Thornton mentioned was that of the democratic party after former President Barack Obama's two terms and the actions of Speaker Nancy Pelosi during Trump's impeachment trial. Trump's election in 2016 was a must for Thornton, who considers it a turning point for American politics.

"I see us going in the right direction, we still have to correct a lot of the mistakes from the previous eight years of administration, but I believe we're going to be strong," Thornton said. "Look at the economy we've just built up, again and again; then there is this illusion of a pandemic."

New resident Nancy Wik, a retired nurse who just moved from Washington, differed in the idea of the pandemic illusion. She sees COVID as a critical issue the nation is currently handling. After watching her late husband rely on a ventilator for four months and reading studies on the long-term effects of COVID-19, she is concerned with protecting citizen health care's well-being.

"We've got to keep protecting people with pre-existing conditions because there are going to be a lot of people after COVID with long-term problems, Wik, 67 said. "We need to mandate mask-wearing and social distancing, it's going to be hard on people, but it's life or death."