UPDATE: Ellington Voters Approve Budget at Referendum

UPDATE, 8:10 p.m.

After 14 hours of polling, the proposed Ellington budget of $50.18 million passed by a vote of 490-319 Tuesday at Ellington High School.

The turnout of 809 citizens represented just 8.3 percent of the town's 9,759 registered voters.

Original Story

As usual, very few Ellington voters have turned out to decide whether or not to approve the town budget.

"Polls opened at 6 a.m., and as of 4 o'clock, only about 5 percent of the registered voters have come in," Registrar of Voters Wanda DeLand said.

Her counterpart, Registrar of Voters Susan Luginbuhl, said, "Last year we only had about 9 percent, so this is not unusual."

The last time voters failed to approve the referendum on the first ballot was in 2007, the registrars said.

Residents are deciding whether or not to okay a $50.18 million budget proposal recently approved by the Board of Finance.

Balloting is open until 8 p.m. in the hallway outside the auditorium in the rear entrance of Ellington High School.

Check back with Ellington-Somers Patch later Tuesday night for balloting results.