Politics & Government

[Update] Low Voter Turnout for Presidential Primary Tuesday Morning

Are you planning on voting today?

Update 7:18 p.m.

By 6 p.m., 165 people voted at Roaring Brook School, 12.95 percent of registered Republicans in District 3.

As of 5 p.m., 96 voted at Town Hall, 13.5 percent of registered Republicans in District 2, and 233 (11.9 percent) voted at Avon High School, District 1. 

Find out what's happening in Avonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Registered Republicans, you have about 30 minutes left to vote before the polls close at 8 p.m.

Avon Patch will be posting the results as soon as they're available.

Find out what's happening in Avonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Update 4:37 p.m.

As of 4 p.m., 10.8 percent (213) of registered Republicans in District 1 voted at Avon High School.

As of 3 p.m., 75 people (10.6 percent) voted in District 2 at Town Hall and 100 people (7.8 percent) voted at Roaring Brook School.

Another count will be done at 5 p.m.

Original Story

Without a Democratic presidential primary this year and with Mitt Romney as an apparent front-runner nationally, the buzz at the Avon polls is quiet Tuesday morning.

“So far, it’s very, very slow, "Registrar of Voters Ann Clark (D) said at 9:45 a.m. “I think it’s because there’s really only one person left. Today, the vote is important to the Republicans because it’s their delegates that they choose.”

There has been seemingly little advertisement from the Republican party in Avon regarding the 2012 presidential race and there are hardly any signs around town for one candidate or the other.

"There’s nothing. The only signs there are for one candidate and there’s not very many," Clark said.

About 20 Republicans have come to vote at  so far, she said.

This is a far different story than the 2008 presidential primaries at the end of President George W. Bush's second term. The Republicans were choosing between John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Alan Keyes, Duncan Hunter and Rudy Giuliani. On the Democratic slate, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were neck and neck vying for a party bid.

“Even last time, their percentages were a little lower than the Democrats," Clark said.

In Avon, back in 2008, 43.7 percent of registered Republicans voted in the presidential primary – or 1,679 of 3,826 registered voters – and 65.2 percent of registered Democrats voted – or 2,091 of 3,208 registered with the party.

At the high school, 44 percent (851) of Republicans registered in District 1 voted, as well as 63.9 percent (1,100) of registered Democrats in that area of town. Over at Town Hall, 42.3 percent (288) of Republicans registered in District 2 voted in comparison to 65.3 percent (371) of registered Democrats. Forty-four percent (540) of Republicans registered to vote in the third district went to Roaring Brook School to vote, as well as 67 percent (620) of Democrats.

Will you be voting in the polls today? Be sure to take our . What qualities are you looking for in the next president and what issues matter the most to you in this election? Who do you support?

Editor's Note: If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected or you'd like to nominate a future Patchlete of the Week, contact Avon Patch Editor Jessie Sawyer at 860-356-6339 or Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com. Join in on the Avon Patch conversation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AvonPatch) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/AvonPatch). You can also add your own announcements and events or apply to blog on Patch. To get daily Avon Patch updates in your email inbox, sign up for our newsletter.


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