Today’s the day! Get out there and vote, and tell us what you see. Bob and I will be live-blogging the results this evening, from the BMG Media Empire compound, as they come in.
There when they opened at 6am. Six people in front of me (including my fiancée). They didn’t actually open until 6:15, the paper ballot counter was down so we all had to vote on one electronic machine. I was the 7th voter and out the door at 6:45. About a hundred people waiting to vote single file, luckily the field rep came in and paper ballots started right as I left which should speed things up.
I’m in a GOP leaning burb with a decent south Asian, East Asian, Hispanic, and black population. Saw a decent number of minorities and women-so hopefully that helps Quinn. I suspect a lt of the early voters were Rauner backers based on the their grumbling about the economy. May return with Wakefield observations from my parents. Go out and vote!
geoffm33says
#18 in my ward according to the ticker on the machine at 7:10. A few Baker supporters glad handing at the door. Barely anyone else on the ticket had opposition so the usual voting location circus was unseasonably quiet.
johnksays
That’s the best that I can describe it, red town lines outside waiting to vote @7. Not a good sign, if there is any chance at all, GOTV needs to be out in full force this afternoon.
Alsays
They see today as the payoff for these years of stonewalling the Obama agenda. They’ve been waiting for a more favorable Congress to push the things they want. So have business. This is their answer to ‘uncertainty’.
SomervilleTomsays
My polling place is Ward 5, Precinct 2 in Somerville, and was surprisingly busy at 8:45a this morning (in comparison to other elections). I was voter number 281.
In contrast to the presidential election, there were no signs and no indications of any political activity outside the polling place (beyond the “15 minute temporary parking” signs posted by the city).
SomervilleTomsays
I blanked a few offices on today’s ballot, most because I don’t even know what the office does (never mind who the candidates were). I wrote in “Anybody else” for “District Attorney”, and as I did so, I had a crazy thought that I’ve decided to share on this open thread.
What if the ballot section for each office included an item that read “Nobody”. What if our laws were changed so that
1. If “Nobody” was the choice of the voters, then the office is filled by whatever process happens after a death in office.
2. If “Nobody” wins office for more than N successive elections (where “N” is a small integer like “2”, “3” or “4”), then the office is permanently removed from the ballot and replaced with whatever the standard process is for filling sudden vacancies.
I would like voters to be able to effectively convey TWO distinct messages on each ballot:
– None of the candidates are suitable
– The office itself should be retired.
For example, in my view the following offices should be non-elected (civil service positions based on qualifications and merit rather than political affiliation):
– Auditor
– Register of Probate
– Secretary of State
– District Attorney
– Maybe Treasurer
I think the office of “Councillor” should be removed altogether. I think “Treasurer”, “Secretary of State”, “District Attorney”, and perhaps even “Attorney General” might better follow the national model — nominated by the Governor, and confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the state Senate.
Christophersays
Our statewide elected are pretty standard. I researched which states elect which offices and the six we have are the most common. I don’t like the idea of “nobody” winning.
waldoxsays
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the Auditor and AG need to be able to operate independently. The Auditor needs to be able to investigate the Executive agencies without political pressure from the Executive. The same for AG — she/he needs to be able to decide the course of litigation involving the Commonwealth regardless of the Governor’s position.
jconwaysays
I voted this morning in a state that elects judges. I voted not to retain any of them at the state level, and blanked ballots for county judges, since I don’t feel qualified to make the ratings. Our director sent out a list of Chicago Bar Association rankings-but it only applied to Cook County and I live in DuPage now. They definitely should be appointed, though I’d back the CT/Federal bench style of confirmation over the Governor’s Council which we share with NH and no other state.
I would appoint the District Attorneys, the Auditor, County Clerk of Courts, Register of Probate, Register of Deeds, definitely Secretary of the Commonwealath, and maybe the Treasurer. I would not appoint the Statewide Attorney General for the reason Walsox lists below.
Kelley Ayotte held water for Craig Benson looking the other way during his violations, and her length of term prevented Lynch from making a better appointment for some time, she then got to be a Senator. I think possibly making the office non-partisan in the Constitution is another sensible reform. But voters should have a say on an office as important as that one. The others are clerical/administrative and I would rather they be filled with civil servants than partisan hacks.
Christophersays
…is and has long been Secretary of the Commonwealth. When you manage elections you should not be so closely identified with a party, but I think there is something to be said for independent election.
Jasiusays
When I lived in Florida a long time ago, I remember reading an article (probably in the Miami Herald) about how prospective judges would legally change their surnames to something that would connect them with voters (Kennedy was a popular one) to increase their chances of getting elected.
jconwaysays
I run back and forth to chambers in my current job, and its always amusing to see the ethnic patchwork of judges and guess when they got backed by people. Lotta Irish and Polish names from the Daley-Bilandic-Byrne years, lotta black names for the Washington years, and then Daley II was smart enough to put more Hispanics and Asians on the court (along with some Irish, Polish, and black).
The South Asians have a strong candidate for state rep in my district, it will be interesting to see if he wins, they are becoming a bigger bloc out here. Filipinos are limited to the town governments of their particular suburbs, and sadly tend to vote Republican out here. Fortunately my in-laws are an exception to that trend.
Trickle upsays
in the best sense of the term. Both need to be independent of an appointing authority.
John Lynch was a good governor, and she might have been a strong Senate candidate regardless, but there’s no question that his reappointment of her helped. It sprinkled her with bipartisan dust.
Voter #155 at about 8:45AM. Not crowded, but looked like a steady flow of people.
cephmesays
Voter 82 at 7:50 this am. Steady stream of voters and a short (indoor) line. Considering it is historically the lowest turnout precinct in the city, seems to be a good start. No signage from any campaign however.
rfgeneratorsays
Voted in Spencer shortly after 7AM, busy but no wait beyond a couple minutes. This part of the state is so Red that I’ve nicknamed it “Massassippi” If Coakley does better than 40% in my (and surrounding towns) town I’ll be surprised. The only possible bright spot is that I’m guardedly optimistic that Anne Gobi who has been my state rep for years will be successful in succeeding Stephen Brewer in the state Senate. Nobody has worked harder in her years as state rep so hopefully Gobi will pull it off. Seen a lot of yards in town that had both a Anne Gobi for Senate sign as well as a sign for the Republican who is running for her old Rep seat.
Davidsays
I was #312 at 9:45 am. No line but a steady trickle of voters. No sign-holders outside, but a TV truck from NECN, presumably left over from when Coakley voted there earlier this morning.
walkedtovotesays
I voted at the fire house shortly after 7am. There was a line of about 20 or 25 when I got there which I’ve not seen since the last presidential election. There were also sign-holders, a couple of press crews, and post-vote pollsters.
Christophersays
I’m at the Lowell field office keeping a seat warm, but there seems to be very little activity. There’s an occasional canvasser in and out and one person making calls and one giving rides, but that’s a far cry from even what I remember about the Markey special in this city. Unfortunately, it seems a fitting end to a campaign cycle that I have felt for a year has been lacking in effort.
Jasiusays
Lexington has two ballots today – the additional ballot is for a special town election. There are separate check-in/out tables and separate ballots for each election. You need to make sure you check-in/out at both tables to get both ballots.
If you voted already and realize you missed one of the ballots, you can go back and fill out the other one.
jconwaysays
Local elections should be aligned to presidential or midterms to increase turn out, and I definitely don’t get how they happen in non-November months.
Jasiusays
Missing the extra ballot is one. Scarcity of campaign volunteers is another (a lot of the same people work on both the local elections and the state / national ones). And the anecdotal info I’m getting is that a non-trivial number of people are purposely not taking the local ballot (“I don’t know anything about the races”). At least when the local election is on a separate date, the focus is completely on those races and the people who show up are at least somewhat informed.
It will be interesting to see how the numbers come out at the end of the day.
Lexington had four or five local candidate debates, two candidate questionnaires, a spirited campaign of endorsement letters sent to the local newspaper. There are much more many lawn signs for the local election than for the state or federal ballot.
Peter Porcupinesays
Yes, everybody knows, but if there are any races where it’s good to vote the person and not the party, it would be municipal.
ChrisinNorthAndoversays
live election blog is a great thing to follow along with. As of its latest update, they’re indicating turnout in Boston is slightly behind the 2010 general election.
jconwaysays
As flawed as American democracy can be, with hanging chads, gerrymandered districts, and the filibuster-it is still a healthy democracy compared to most of the world. My in laws lost a good friend shot by a sniper, because she was registering the poor to vote in her province of the Philippines and ran afoul of some local bosses. Their elections are marred by violence, bribery, and open corruption (handing out bags of rice at polling centers to buy votes) and take weeks to count (with over 10,000 inhabited islands in the archipelago). So my in laws always are proud to vote, and will always remind me that my cynicism is misplaced and a little naive-since my country does a pretty good job compared to theirs. This is not to say we are the best, simply that we should continue to defend and exercise our rights and recognize that too many of our fellow human beings are deprived of even talking about voting.
pogosays
At least that’s the marching orders I got in my area. I completely understand the science to that–a body making phone calls or knocking and driving someone to the polls is more effective that holding a sign. Yet the art of politics tells me that there are plenty of low information voters that ACTUALLY DO make decisions by the candidate who has the most signs at the polls place or recognizes someone holding a sign.
Can anyone confirm they have the same marching orders?
Pablosays
Arlington: No sign-holders. Poll checkers.
I saw sign holders when I drove through Lexington, but they were for municipal candidates for selectman and school committee.
bluewatchsays
I saw plenty of Baker signs, and I even saw a sign for Brian Herr. There were no GOP sign holders either, but they just put their signs into the ground.
So, where were the Dem signs? Did we not do anything, or did the GOP remove them?
jconwaysays
I know dad got worried in 08 counting more McCain signs around MA than Obama signs, he asked me to call Obama’s MA headquarters and see if we could get some. ‘All our signs are up in NH where the undecided voters are’.
That might have something to do with it.
merrimackguysays
-had confirmation of this in Andover this morning.
mobeach42says
at 8AM this morning in Precinct 7 &4. No lines, but steady traffic. Hoping for a Matt Terry victory over Rep. Hunt, and Matt Patrick over Demacedo for Senate. Fingers crossed. Only sign holders were for Keating.
fredrichlaricciasays
predicted. Hot race Moulton v. Tisei. Chanel 5 and FOX
filmed Tisei voting at my Wakefield precinct and we were able to get TEAM BLUE(Martha, Seth and Chris Finn for Rep) in the shot for the News at noon !
GOTV Democrats !
Fred Rich LaRiccia
dasox1says
blanking the stupid Governor’s Council election. But, it was even more enjoyable to write “ABOLISH IT” on the write in line. It’s a waste of ink printing on the ballot the candidates names for the Council. And, YES, I do want to amend the Constitution if that’s what it takes. Voted for Coakley but can’t help but wonder if Dan Wolf or Don Berwick would have wiped the floor with Charlie B. At this point, I’m used to not having my candidate’s win….
Christophersays
I think if more people had her for a Councilor they would not be as quick to call for abolition. She does the Council and her district proud. Had a great chat with her just today about some of what goes on. She does have an opponent and is campaigning hard. As long as the position exists it does matter who fills it.
betseysays
I cast ballots #s 791 and 792 (one for state, one for town), so assuming everyone cast 2 ballots, I was voter #396 just before 1 pm – not bad considering how small the precinct is. In terms of signage/viz, I’d say equal #s of Kate Hogan and Paddy Dolan. But this is definitely Baker country out here, sigh. It can be tough living here after living in the bluest of towns – Cambridge and Arlington.
betseysays
in the 2010 midterms, a total of 1,046 ballots were cast in Maynard precinct 2.
ryepower12says
Of course, Charlie Baker’s from here, we’re in the 6th Congressional District *and* there’s a prop 2 1/2 question to build a new school (first time I ever voted against one of those in town — I’m all for new schools, but not for getting rid of our 3 neighborhood schools to make 1 mega elementary school with a park the size of a few parking spaces).
Alsays
financial. They have 1 gym, 1 cafeteria, and a smaller staff to operate them than multiple individual schools. I see no benefits and plenty of downside for the students. In Peabody, pop 50,000+, all the elementary schools (7?) funnel into 1 middle school that they openly brag about as the largest in the state. I think they realize it’s actually a negative because the school is divided into clusters or schools within a school to try and mitigate the issue.
ryepower12says
If you’re making calls, say you’re a volunteer from the Coordinated Campaign in X (the town they live in), and you just want to remind them to vote.
They’ll think it’s a public service announcement and be very appreciative for your efforts.
Friendlier conversation, almost no reflexive “gah! you campaigns stop calling me!” folks.
We’ve already ID’d all our votes. All we can do is bring them out at this point.
Mark L. Bailsays
We had 3,531 vote in the last presidential election. We were at 1195 at 2 PM.
tudor586says
At 3:30 PM I was voter no. 635 at Ward 4, Precinct 1 in Boston.
eliassays
#30 at 7:15 AM in his precinct in (Romantic) Arlington….there were lines for Ballots a very full joint.
I was number 558 in my precinct, so turnout was roughly 25% at that point. Today is also moving day for me, my lease is up tomorrow – this is my first break since noon.
and I thought I had it bad with an early morning doctors appointment to go to after voting and before work, but that is quite bad.
drikeosays
Up to 975 votes at 4:15. Pace picking up, had been at 90 at 3:45. Had a total of 1,400 in 2010 (when 1,027 voted for Patrick).
Peter Porcupinesays
and that was just one of the 5 precincts in my town.
Town clerk was there, and she told me that we have 67% turnout in 2010 and she expects higher this year.
We have LOT of contested races (State Senate, State Rep, DA, Assembly of Delegates, County Commissioner, as well as the statewide) so we have higher turnout. And as I have long said, votes don’t trickle down, they trickle UP – so the people turning out to vote for the local GOP candidates will also vote for Baker, et al.
Vinny deMacedo will replace Therese Murray. One upper Cape GOP rep is unopposed, and the other will win easily. Whelan will take the 1st Barnstable back from the first Democrat to hold the seat since the Whigs.
Oh – and John Chapman is ahead of Keating in recent polls, and may pull off a sleeper victory. Will be well into 40% range at the very least.
Peter Porcupinesays
My open thread post yesterday was, “Vinny deMacedo will replace Therese Murray. One upper Cape GOP rep is unopposed, and the other will win easily. Whelan will take the 1st Barnstable back from the first Democrat to hold the seat since the Whigs. Oh – and John Chapman is ahead of Keating in recent polls, and may pull off a sleeper victory. Will be well into 40% range at the very least.”
All of these things happened. Chapman – a MODERATE, you TEA Party people! – did the best as a GOP challenger since Gerry Studds.
ChrisinNorthAndoversays
I was number 1,029 in Precinct 2 as of about 5:15
jconwaysays
She was only voter 200.
fenway49says
It only had 273 in Nov. 2010.
jconwaysays
Harvard kids are too dumb to vote (or more likely voted in their home states). They aren’t getting taxed, so I guess the representation doesn’t matter as much :p
jconway says
There when they opened at 6am. Six people in front of me (including my fiancée). They didn’t actually open until 6:15, the paper ballot counter was down so we all had to vote on one electronic machine. I was the 7th voter and out the door at 6:45. About a hundred people waiting to vote single file, luckily the field rep came in and paper ballots started right as I left which should speed things up.
I’m in a GOP leaning burb with a decent south Asian, East Asian, Hispanic, and black population. Saw a decent number of minorities and women-so hopefully that helps Quinn. I suspect a lt of the early voters were Rauner backers based on the their grumbling about the economy. May return with Wakefield observations from my parents. Go out and vote!
geoffm33 says
#18 in my ward according to the ticker on the machine at 7:10. A few Baker supporters glad handing at the door. Barely anyone else on the ticket had opposition so the usual voting location circus was unseasonably quiet.
johnk says
That’s the best that I can describe it, red town lines outside waiting to vote @7. Not a good sign, if there is any chance at all, GOTV needs to be out in full force this afternoon.
Al says
They see today as the payoff for these years of stonewalling the Obama agenda. They’ve been waiting for a more favorable Congress to push the things they want. So have business. This is their answer to ‘uncertainty’.
SomervilleTom says
My polling place is Ward 5, Precinct 2 in Somerville, and was surprisingly busy at 8:45a this morning (in comparison to other elections). I was voter number 281.
In contrast to the presidential election, there were no signs and no indications of any political activity outside the polling place (beyond the “15 minute temporary parking” signs posted by the city).
SomervilleTom says
I blanked a few offices on today’s ballot, most because I don’t even know what the office does (never mind who the candidates were). I wrote in “Anybody else” for “District Attorney”, and as I did so, I had a crazy thought that I’ve decided to share on this open thread.
What if the ballot section for each office included an item that read “Nobody”. What if our laws were changed so that
1. If “Nobody” was the choice of the voters, then the office is filled by whatever process happens after a death in office.
2. If “Nobody” wins office for more than N successive elections (where “N” is a small integer like “2”, “3” or “4”), then the office is permanently removed from the ballot and replaced with whatever the standard process is for filling sudden vacancies.
I would like voters to be able to effectively convey TWO distinct messages on each ballot:
– None of the candidates are suitable
– The office itself should be retired.
For example, in my view the following offices should be non-elected (civil service positions based on qualifications and merit rather than political affiliation):
– Auditor
– Register of Probate
– Secretary of State
– District Attorney
– Maybe Treasurer
I think the office of “Councillor” should be removed altogether. I think “Treasurer”, “Secretary of State”, “District Attorney”, and perhaps even “Attorney General” might better follow the national model — nominated by the Governor, and confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the state Senate.
Christopher says
Our statewide elected are pretty standard. I researched which states elect which offices and the six we have are the most common. I don’t like the idea of “nobody” winning.
waldox says
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the Auditor and AG need to be able to operate independently. The Auditor needs to be able to investigate the Executive agencies without political pressure from the Executive. The same for AG — she/he needs to be able to decide the course of litigation involving the Commonwealth regardless of the Governor’s position.
jconway says
I voted this morning in a state that elects judges. I voted not to retain any of them at the state level, and blanked ballots for county judges, since I don’t feel qualified to make the ratings. Our director sent out a list of Chicago Bar Association rankings-but it only applied to Cook County and I live in DuPage now. They definitely should be appointed, though I’d back the CT/Federal bench style of confirmation over the Governor’s Council which we share with NH and no other state.
I would appoint the District Attorneys, the Auditor, County Clerk of Courts, Register of Probate, Register of Deeds, definitely Secretary of the Commonwealath, and maybe the Treasurer. I would not appoint the Statewide Attorney General for the reason Walsox lists below.
Kelley Ayotte held water for Craig Benson looking the other way during his violations, and her length of term prevented Lynch from making a better appointment for some time, she then got to be a Senator. I think possibly making the office non-partisan in the Constitution is another sensible reform. But voters should have a say on an office as important as that one. The others are clerical/administrative and I would rather they be filled with civil servants than partisan hacks.
Christopher says
…is and has long been Secretary of the Commonwealth. When you manage elections you should not be so closely identified with a party, but I think there is something to be said for independent election.
Jasiu says
When I lived in Florida a long time ago, I remember reading an article (probably in the Miami Herald) about how prospective judges would legally change their surnames to something that would connect them with voters (Kennedy was a popular one) to increase their chances of getting elected.
jconway says
I run back and forth to chambers in my current job, and its always amusing to see the ethnic patchwork of judges and guess when they got backed by people. Lotta Irish and Polish names from the Daley-Bilandic-Byrne years, lotta black names for the Washington years, and then Daley II was smart enough to put more Hispanics and Asians on the court (along with some Irish, Polish, and black).
The South Asians have a strong candidate for state rep in my district, it will be interesting to see if he wins, they are becoming a bigger bloc out here. Filipinos are limited to the town governments of their particular suburbs, and sadly tend to vote Republican out here. Fortunately my in-laws are an exception to that trend.
Trickle up says
in the best sense of the term. Both need to be independent of an appointing authority.
Nevada provide for a “none of the above” option.
JimC says
John Lynch was a good governor, and she might have been a strong Senate candidate regardless, but there’s no question that his reappointment of her helped. It sprinkled her with bipartisan dust.
smadin says
Voter #155 at about 8:45AM. Not crowded, but looked like a steady flow of people.
cephme says
Voter 82 at 7:50 this am. Steady stream of voters and a short (indoor) line. Considering it is historically the lowest turnout precinct in the city, seems to be a good start. No signage from any campaign however.
rfgenerator says
Voted in Spencer shortly after 7AM, busy but no wait beyond a couple minutes. This part of the state is so Red that I’ve nicknamed it “Massassippi” If Coakley does better than 40% in my (and surrounding towns) town I’ll be surprised. The only possible bright spot is that I’m guardedly optimistic that Anne Gobi who has been my state rep for years will be successful in succeeding Stephen Brewer in the state Senate. Nobody has worked harder in her years as state rep so hopefully Gobi will pull it off. Seen a lot of yards in town that had both a Anne Gobi for Senate sign as well as a sign for the Republican who is running for her old Rep seat.
David says
I was #312 at 9:45 am. No line but a steady trickle of voters. No sign-holders outside, but a TV truck from NECN, presumably left over from when Coakley voted there earlier this morning.
walkedtovote says
I voted at the fire house shortly after 7am. There was a line of about 20 or 25 when I got there which I’ve not seen since the last presidential election. There were also sign-holders, a couple of press crews, and post-vote pollsters.
Christopher says
I’m at the Lowell field office keeping a seat warm, but there seems to be very little activity. There’s an occasional canvasser in and out and one person making calls and one giving rides, but that’s a far cry from even what I remember about the Markey special in this city. Unfortunately, it seems a fitting end to a campaign cycle that I have felt for a year has been lacking in effort.
Jasiu says
Lexington has two ballots today – the additional ballot is for a special town election. There are separate check-in/out tables and separate ballots for each election. You need to make sure you check-in/out at both tables to get both ballots.
If you voted already and realize you missed one of the ballots, you can go back and fill out the other one.
jconway says
Local elections should be aligned to presidential or midterms to increase turn out, and I definitely don’t get how they happen in non-November months.
Jasiu says
Missing the extra ballot is one. Scarcity of campaign volunteers is another (a lot of the same people work on both the local elections and the state / national ones). And the anecdotal info I’m getting is that a non-trivial number of people are purposely not taking the local ballot (“I don’t know anything about the races”). At least when the local election is on a separate date, the focus is completely on those races and the people who show up are at least somewhat informed.
It will be interesting to see how the numbers come out at the end of the day.
jconway says
n/t
Andrei Radulescu-Banu says
There is no choice, really – they have to be separate ballots, the way the process of approving ballots works.
This is a special local election triggered by two town officials leaving office before the term expired.
Pablo says
As an elected municipal official, I can’t possibly imagine how we would get out a message in the midst of a state or national campaign.
Andrei Radulescu-Banu says
Lexington had four or five local candidate debates, two candidate questionnaires, a spirited campaign of endorsement letters sent to the local newspaper. There are much more many lawn signs for the local election than for the state or federal ballot.
Peter Porcupine says
Yes, everybody knows, but if there are any races where it’s good to vote the person and not the party, it would be municipal.
ChrisinNorthAndover says
live election blog is a great thing to follow along with. As of its latest update, they’re indicating turnout in Boston is slightly behind the 2010 general election.
jconway says
As flawed as American democracy can be, with hanging chads, gerrymandered districts, and the filibuster-it is still a healthy democracy compared to most of the world. My in laws lost a good friend shot by a sniper, because she was registering the poor to vote in her province of the Philippines and ran afoul of some local bosses. Their elections are marred by violence, bribery, and open corruption (handing out bags of rice at polling centers to buy votes) and take weeks to count (with over 10,000 inhabited islands in the archipelago). So my in laws always are proud to vote, and will always remind me that my cynicism is misplaced and a little naive-since my country does a pretty good job compared to theirs. This is not to say we are the best, simply that we should continue to defend and exercise our rights and recognize that too many of our fellow human beings are deprived of even talking about voting.
pogo says
At least that’s the marching orders I got in my area. I completely understand the science to that–a body making phone calls or knocking and driving someone to the polls is more effective that holding a sign. Yet the art of politics tells me that there are plenty of low information voters that ACTUALLY DO make decisions by the candidate who has the most signs at the polls place or recognizes someone holding a sign.
Can anyone confirm they have the same marching orders?
Pablo says
Arlington: No sign-holders. Poll checkers.
I saw sign holders when I drove through Lexington, but they were for municipal candidates for selectman and school committee.
bluewatch says
I saw plenty of Baker signs, and I even saw a sign for Brian Herr. There were no GOP sign holders either, but they just put their signs into the ground.
So, where were the Dem signs? Did we not do anything, or did the GOP remove them?
jconway says
I know dad got worried in 08 counting more McCain signs around MA than Obama signs, he asked me to call Obama’s MA headquarters and see if we could get some. ‘All our signs are up in NH where the undecided voters are’.
That might have something to do with it.
merrimackguy says
-had confirmation of this in Andover this morning.
mobeach42 says
at 8AM this morning in Precinct 7 &4. No lines, but steady traffic. Hoping for a Matt Terry victory over Rep. Hunt, and Matt Patrick over Demacedo for Senate. Fingers crossed. Only sign holders were for Keating.
fredrichlariccia says
predicted. Hot race Moulton v. Tisei. Chanel 5 and FOX
filmed Tisei voting at my Wakefield precinct and we were able to get TEAM BLUE(Martha, Seth and Chris Finn for Rep) in the shot for the News at noon !
GOTV Democrats !
Fred Rich LaRiccia
dasox1 says
blanking the stupid Governor’s Council election. But, it was even more enjoyable to write “ABOLISH IT” on the write in line. It’s a waste of ink printing on the ballot the candidates names for the Council. And, YES, I do want to amend the Constitution if that’s what it takes. Voted for Coakley but can’t help but wonder if Dan Wolf or Don Berwick would have wiped the floor with Charlie B. At this point, I’m used to not having my candidate’s win….
Christopher says
I think if more people had her for a Councilor they would not be as quick to call for abolition. She does the Council and her district proud. Had a great chat with her just today about some of what goes on. She does have an opponent and is campaigning hard. As long as the position exists it does matter who fills it.
betsey says
I cast ballots #s 791 and 792 (one for state, one for town), so assuming everyone cast 2 ballots, I was voter #396 just before 1 pm – not bad considering how small the precinct is. In terms of signage/viz, I’d say equal #s of Kate Hogan and Paddy Dolan. But this is definitely Baker country out here, sigh. It can be tough living here after living in the bluest of towns – Cambridge and Arlington.
betsey says
in the 2010 midterms, a total of 1,046 ballots were cast in Maynard precinct 2.
ryepower12 says
Of course, Charlie Baker’s from here, we’re in the 6th Congressional District *and* there’s a prop 2 1/2 question to build a new school (first time I ever voted against one of those in town — I’m all for new schools, but not for getting rid of our 3 neighborhood schools to make 1 mega elementary school with a park the size of a few parking spaces).
Al says
financial. They have 1 gym, 1 cafeteria, and a smaller staff to operate them than multiple individual schools. I see no benefits and plenty of downside for the students. In Peabody, pop 50,000+, all the elementary schools (7?) funnel into 1 middle school that they openly brag about as the largest in the state. I think they realize it’s actually a negative because the school is divided into clusters or schools within a school to try and mitigate the issue.
ryepower12 says
If you’re making calls, say you’re a volunteer from the Coordinated Campaign in X (the town they live in), and you just want to remind them to vote.
They’ll think it’s a public service announcement and be very appreciative for your efforts.
Friendlier conversation, almost no reflexive “gah! you campaigns stop calling me!” folks.
We’ve already ID’d all our votes. All we can do is bring them out at this point.
Mark L. Bail says
We had 3,531 vote in the last presidential election. We were at 1195 at 2 PM.
tudor586 says
At 3:30 PM I was voter no. 635 at Ward 4, Precinct 1 in Boston.
elias says
#30 at 7:15 AM in his precinct in (Romantic) Arlington….there were lines for Ballots a very full joint.
John Tehan says
I was number 558 in my precinct, so turnout was roughly 25% at that point. Today is also moving day for me, my lease is up tomorrow – this is my first break since noon.
Christopher says
n/t
John Tehan says
Staying in Milford!
jconway says
and I thought I had it bad with an early morning doctors appointment to go to after voting and before work, but that is quite bad.
drikeo says
Up to 975 votes at 4:15. Pace picking up, had been at 90 at 3:45. Had a total of 1,400 in 2010 (when 1,027 voted for Patrick).
Peter Porcupine says
and that was just one of the 5 precincts in my town.
Town clerk was there, and she told me that we have 67% turnout in 2010 and she expects higher this year.
We have LOT of contested races (State Senate, State Rep, DA, Assembly of Delegates, County Commissioner, as well as the statewide) so we have higher turnout. And as I have long said, votes don’t trickle down, they trickle UP – so the people turning out to vote for the local GOP candidates will also vote for Baker, et al.
Vinny deMacedo will replace Therese Murray. One upper Cape GOP rep is unopposed, and the other will win easily. Whelan will take the 1st Barnstable back from the first Democrat to hold the seat since the Whigs.
Oh – and John Chapman is ahead of Keating in recent polls, and may pull off a sleeper victory. Will be well into 40% range at the very least.
Peter Porcupine says
My open thread post yesterday was, “Vinny deMacedo will replace Therese Murray. One upper Cape GOP rep is unopposed, and the other will win easily. Whelan will take the 1st Barnstable back from the first Democrat to hold the seat since the Whigs. Oh – and John Chapman is ahead of Keating in recent polls, and may pull off a sleeper victory. Will be well into 40% range at the very least.”
All of these things happened. Chapman – a MODERATE, you TEA Party people! – did the best as a GOP challenger since Gerry Studds.
ChrisinNorthAndover says
I was number 1,029 in Precinct 2 as of about 5:15
jconway says
She was only voter 200.
fenway49 says
It only had 273 in Nov. 2010.
jconway says
Harvard kids are too dumb to vote (or more likely voted in their home states). They aren’t getting taxed, so I guess the representation doesn’t matter as much :p