Nearly Two of Five Belmont Voters Cast Ballot in Senate Race

Six voters stood in line before a desk in the sweltering heat of Butler Elementary School's gym at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 25. 

Actually, the Belmont residents were attempting to vote at Precinct 4. But before they could receive their ballots in yesterday's Special US Senate election, they needed to perform a few preliminary tasks.

No, Belmont had not imposed it's own "voter ID" measure at the last Town Meeting. These residents were being asked to present some identification of their residency because of what they did not do earlier in the year: fill out their town census. 

Special "help" desks were established in each precinct to assist voters who were behind on providing their information to the town.

While most voters took the news that they were, in fact, scofflaws for not filling out their annual forms – "I didn't know we had [a census]," said one expected voter – a very few made their feeling known via social media.

"Who are they to say we need an official ID? Why are we being stopped from voting? This is a scandal" one voter instant messaged the editor of Belmont Patch.

But according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, inactivated voters are required to perform their civic duty before they could have the opportunity of placing an "I Voted" sticker on their clothes.

So other than one voter coming in to Town Hall to say that Precinct 8 was "closed" when she arrived to cast her ballot – turns out she assumed the polling station was shuttered because the door at the Winn Brook was not open – or the Precinct captain who locked themselves in a walk-in freezer – they got out thanks to the efforts of a helpful Belmont Police officer who heard a call for help – a rare summer election day in Belmont went by fairly routine, said Cushman.

Even Mitt and Ann Romney got to cast their ballots at the Senior Center without a fuss at 9:30 a.m., as opposed to seven months ago when the world's media decended on Belmont to see him vote.

Despite the oppressive heat, nearly two-of-every-five voters in town came to one of the eight town precincts to cast their ballot or voted absentee, said Cushman.

"It was a great turnout," she noted.

And the majority of voters selected their US Representative, Ed Markey, to become the next US Senator. He easily defeated Republican newcomer and businessman Gabriel Gomez by a more than two-to-one margin in Belmont, exceeding the percentage total the long-time congressman garnered state wide. 

The final unofficial vote tally in Belmont was Markey with 4,542 to Gomez's 2,188, a 67 to 32 percent margin. Statewide, Markey took 55 percent of the vote.

A breakdown of precincts can be seen at the Town Clerk's Website.