Politics & Government

Election Day 2013: 20.6% Turnout in Somers, 13.5% in Ellington

Here's where you can find out stories, polling information and other important news bits throughout Tuesday's municipal elections.

Update 4:04 p.m.

More people are heading to the polls in Somers than in Ellington, according to the latest updates.

As of 3 p.m., 1,350 Somers residents voted in the 2013 municipal election. There are 6,549 registered voters in town, putting the turnout rate so far at 20.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Ellington's voter turnout clocked at 1,005 of 7,450 registered voters, or 13.5 percent.

Turnout in Somers was the heaviest between 11 a.m. and noon when 394 voters showed up at Town Hall to cast ballots, said David McCaffrey, Republican registrar of voters. 

Comparatively, the final vote tally in the 2011 municipal election was 25.71 percent so it appears Somers will surpass the 2011 numbers in terms of voter turnout.

Also, as of 3 p.m., 11 people have taken advantage of the new state law and registered to vote on Election Day, McCaffrey said. 

"That's 11 more than we expected," he joked.

Update 1:20 p.m.


Despite having a fairly notable first selectman race — pitting an incumbent Republican against a former Democratic state representative — the voter turnout in Ellington is actually quite low right now.

As of 1 p.m. only 10 percent of the 7,450 registered Ellington voters cast ballots in the 2013 municipal elections.

"I was a little surprised," said Republican Registrar Wanda DeLand. She noted that this was the same turnout rate during the last municipal election in 2011. 

So far, two people have taken advantage of Connecticut's first-ever same day registration and have registered to vote today, DeLand said. 

Heading off the Ellington municipal election ticket is Maurice Blanchette, the incumbent first selectman, on the Republican side, and Ted Graziani, a fellow member of the Board of Selectman and former state representative, on the Democratic side. 

Patch will post numbers on the Somers race as they become available.

Original Story

Tuesday, Nov. 5 is Election Day and hundreds of residents from both Ellington and Somers will go to the polls to vote for their preferred municipal candidates.

Patch will be covering today's elections as they go on and we'll be posting updates here. Be sure to check back later tonight when we post the results for both towns.

Here's some important information to know now:

What are the polling times?

The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Where do I vote? 

To see if you are registered to vote and where to vote, click here.

Who will be on the ballot?

If you're from Ellington, then check our sample ballot here. And, if you're from Somers, then you can find your ballot here.

If you want to find out more about the candidates, or to see more on the election coverage in both towns, be sure to check our Elections section and our Blogs, where you can find several letters of endorsement and other profile pieces.


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