Troy Elections 2013: Clerk Estimates 28 Percent Voter Turnout

Voters in Troy go to the polls Tuesday to elect three city council representatives and decide a school bond issue. 

Patch will cover the local races throughout the day, until the final local votes are reported. 

Find more, including candidate profiles, on the Elections page on our site.

9:21 p.m.: Troy City Clerk Aileen Bittner estimated a "really good" voter turnout rate at 28 percent of registered voters for Tuesday's election.

"We thought it was going to be a light turnout early in the day, but everybody turned out between 5:30 and 7 p.m.," Bittner said. "There were no problems with people and equipment. Everything went really smoothly."

Bittner added that 92 percent of absentee ballots were returned to the clerk's office. 

7:15 p.m.: As night fell, Don Goergen came out to support Wade Fleming at St. Anastasia Catholic Church. He did it, he said, because when night fell on the economy of Troy, Fleming was there to support the city's tax base.

"Compared to most communities around here, we’re pretty reasonable. I’ve been a big fan of Wade trying to keep the taxes down," Goergen said, citing Fleming's background as a retired businessman and a two-term, incumbent council member. "When things get tough, that’s when it takes a solid business guy. Anyone can maintain a solid cash flow. Things are still pretty tough."

Supporters of Fleming, Janice Daniels, and the Troy School District bond proposal noted that precinct 22 at St. Anastasia maintained a steady flow of voters after 6 p.m.

6:30 p.m.: For Diane Aulph, the decision to support Ed Pennington and Ellen Hodorek for city council is as simple as going around Troy to do her daily business—because that's where the candidates are sure to recognize her contribution to their campaign.

Aulph campaigned together with fellow Pennington/Hodorek supporter Sandy Burgess at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church for several hours on Tuesday wearing layers to fight off the cold weather. They said it was well worth it, going into the closure of the polls at 8 p.m. feeling "cautiously optimistic."

"You can give to a campaign, you see the results. These people thank you. They see you around, they come and shake your hand and give you a hug. Giving makes a difference you can see," Aulph said.       

2:20 p.m.: It's a quiet election by Troy standards, according to City Clerk Aileen Bittner.

About 90 percent of the approximately 6,450 absentee voter ballots which were requested had been returned by Tuesday afternoon, with more coming in to the clerk's office until 8 p.m., she said. However, she reported the voter turnout at a modest 15 percent.

"We're predicting about 25 percent after the nighttime rush, when people are coming back from work and vote before they go home," she said. "However, it's not a science. I base that off of the fact that the number of absentee ballots (returned) are up a little bit from our election two years ago."

The Nov. 2011 election Bittner refers to had a voter turnout rate of about 26 percent.

Also adding to the "quiet" characterization of this November's election is that there have been no incidents reported at the polls and that equipment being used has performed to task, according to Bittner.

11:30 a.m.: Perhaps part of the reason for a "quiet" day at the polls can be attributed to a lack of noticeable opposition to the Troy School District school improvement bond.

Jen Hilzinger, a district parent and volunteer for a community-led campaign in support of the bond, was outside of St. Stephen Episcopal Church for several hours on Tuesday to show her support.

"There hasn’t been a well-organized opposition to it at all, which is not true in other communities, so we’re very fortunate to have such a supportive community here in our schools," Hilzinger said, wearing several layers of warm clothes to fight against the chilly conditions outside.

The district has also been working to put together an informational campaign and suggest that residents vote. However, the district is not permitted to take a stance. That's where volunteers like Hilzinger come in.

Hilzinger also backs city council candidates Ed Pennington and Ellen Hodorek, carrying signs in support for them in one hand and support for the district in the other. She said that she likes the way that the city council is operating at the moment and hopes that if Hodorek can fill in the available position vacated by Maureen McGinnis, that there will be little change to the current dynamic.

"That’s what (Hodorek and Pennington) are promising and that’s my instinct, too. We’ll have a city that works again and a city that works together for us," she said.

11 a.m.: Two ideas brought incumbent council member Dave Henderson to campaign for fellow incumbents Wade Fleming and Ed Pennington outside of the First United Methodist Church in the cold weather on Tuesday morning: a sense of duty as an elected official and a desire to "keep the team together."

"This is my team and I have to do my part to help build the team," Henderson said, referring to both the city council and the city itself. "(The council) all have one goal and that’s to do the best for the city and make the city thrive, regardless of what direction we come at it from."

10:30 a.m.: Duane Kristofice is decisive in his support of Ed Pennington and Ellen Hodorek, but just as decisive as what he doesn't support: state- or national-scale discussed issues on the city level.

"The Janice Daniels people were using fear to motivate certain people and things that I don’t believe were necessarily true. Just putting in marriage and different things that shouldn’t be on the city scale. If those are the issues that she wants to fight for, she should go on the state or the national scale," said Kristofice, a Troy resident since 2004.

"Honestly, I think (Daniels) has motivated a lot of people to get involved. The main drive is that I don’t want a repeat of what happened in the city last time. I think we need to move forward, not back."

Campaigning right besides Kristofice was another man inspired by Daniels, for a completely different reason. Charles Fiorina campaigned for Daniels, acknowledging "errors in judgment" she had previously made as mayor and opining that it made her a better candidate.

"Unfortunately, I think she wasn’t a politician when she became mayor and that hurt her. If she had played the game better … other than that, I think she’ll be a good balance on the board," Fiorina said. "Our current council, there’s no flexibility, no compromise, no nothing. You’re either one side or the other. That’s a thing that I’m not too happy with."