Polls Open In Milford, Precincts See Heavy Turnout

MILFORD — Polls opened in Milford Tuesday to dozens of voters waiting to cast ballots on the Foxwoods Massachusetts casino question. The doors opened early at the Portuguese Club, to let people inside the building, and by 7 a.m., more than 30 people had walked inside.

By 9 a.m., 233 people had voted in Precinct 3 and 213 people in Precinct 2 at the Italian American Veterans Club location, a rate of about 100 people an hour per precinct. Precinct 2 is a swath of Milford along East Main Street, including homes to the east of Milford Pond, out to the east Milford area closest to the casino site.

Outside the polling locations, supporters and opponents of the casino proposal bundled up on a cold election morning, waving signs and trying to encourage beeps and other shows of support from drivers.

At the Portuguese Club, one of the first people voting Monday was John Seaver, a leader of the opposition group Casino Free Milford. 

No line was outside the door at 7:20 a.m., despite heavy early turnout, as people were voting quickly and leaving the site. Milford Police are on site directing traffic.

The polls will remain open in Milford until 8 p.m.

Voters are deciding whether to endorse a proposed $1 billion resort casino development for a nearly 200-acre site off I-495 and Route 16, about a mile from the Holliston line.

Only Milford voters can participate in the referendum on the casino question.

If the proposal gains town voter support, it will then head to a Dec. 9 Special Town Meeting in Milford. Town Meeting members will be asked to approve zoning changes at the site to allow the casino.

Selectmen on Monday approved the Special Town Meeting warrant.

The development is sought by Foxwoods Massachusetts, a company made up of several partners that is seeking the single resort casino license available for the greater Boston region. The decision will be made by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Competitors for the Boston region include the Wynn Resorts development in Everett, which has already passed a voter referendum.

The Suffolk Downs proposal remains in question. Its developer is trying to place it on the portion of the site in Revere, where voters approved the project two weeks ago at a referendum. Voters in East Boston rejected it, however.