Huge Voter Turnout in Lyme and Old Lyme

In Old Lyme, voters waited in line for 20 minutes at a time during peak voting hours today but polling stations in East Lyme, Old Lyme, and Lyme have been clocking voters at a steady clip all day long. 

"It's been fairly smooth," said Old Lyme Election Moderator Kurt Zemba. "A very high turnout." 

There are more than 6,200 registered voters in Old Lyme and by 3:30 p.m., more than 3,000 had cast their ballots and the town had about 400 absentee ballots to boot.

Zemba said that, based on that rate, the total voter turnout could be more than 80 percent. That's a lot, even for a town where voter turnout is "traditionally very high," Zemba said. "We have more registered voters now," he added. 

The story was the same in Lyme. "It's been steady all day," said election official Carl Clement. "It's been much steadier this time than in the past but no lines."

Lyme also typically has a high voter turnout but by 4 p.m., 1,169 of the town's 1,800 registered voters had cast their ballots and that included 134 people who voted absentee. 

"It's sensational," said Lyme Republican Town Committee member James Witkins, adding that they had done a lot to try to get out the vote this election.