Quiet At The Polls: Belmont Voters Slow to Come Out

In November of last year, the line never stopped long enough for poll workers to have lunch at Precinct 4 as about 940 voters had cast their ballots by 3 p.m. at the Butler School in Waverley Square.

Around the same time of day today, the only line around the Butler were of children being released from school as the 4th Precinct just nudged beyond three digits with 102 ballots cast in the Belmont Town Election. 

Where more than a thousand had voted in the General Election five months ago midway through the day at nearly all the polling sites, Belmont voters enthusiasm has been as cold as the weather – blustery winds making the 40 degree temperature feel well below freezing – with only a single competitive town-wide race (for School Committee between incumbent Laurie Slap and challengers Elyse Shuster and Jamie Kang) 

Voters in only three of the town's eight precincts will have the opportunity to vote for more than the minimum 12 residents seeking seats on the representative body: Precinct 4 with 13 candidates, Precinct 5 has 16 and Precinct 6 with 15.

Two precincts will be counting write-in votes as they did not have the required dozen candidates.

Over at Precinct 8 in the Winn Brook School, Warden Stanley Dzieerzeski said the polling station was not the "go-go" place to be in past elections registering 172 voters at 2 p.m. while Warden Cindy Papa said voting at the 1st, home precinct to School Committee candidate Kang, was light, although, with 204 votes, it came in as the highest vote total in Belmont. 

"Where ever the crowds are, they aren't here," said Marshall McCloskey, warden of Precinct 7 at the Burbank School which totaled 97 votes cast by 2:45 p.m.

While the polling station in the school's gym was slightly busy between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., "it's been very relaxed since then," said McCloskey.

"If we reach 200 by 8 p.m., I'll be pleased," he said.