Quiet Day at Salem Polls Despite Big Issues on the Table

The lines are much quieter today at the four Salem polling locations compared to the 2012 town election, which saw a ballot item on curbside pickup cause hoards of people to turn out and vote.

The polling locations did have plenty of candidates and residents picketing in support of both a non-binding casino referendum and about $17 million in school renovations to Fisk, Soule and Haigh Schools.

State Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem), who has lived in Salem for his entire 19 years, said that there has been "a lot of positive" for the casino referendum from voters he has spoken with today.

Sweeney didn't want to speak for his fellow representatives, but said that the legislators in Salem should represent the people should they support today's casino referendum.

He stood alongside Planning Board member Paul Pelletier and School Board candidate Patricia Corbett.

Corbett, like many of her constituents on the school side, also came out to support the school renovations. Candidates and other residents were holding "Support Articles 2 and 3" signs at all four polling locations.

Salem resident Richard O'Shaughnessy said that the school facilities have been neglected for a good many years.

O'Shaughnessy said that as a senior citizen with his assets and wealth tied up in his home, a young couple coming in to purchase his home will first look at the town's schools as a barometer for Salem.

O'Shaughnessy stood outside the Salem Senior Center alongside School Board/Zoning Board of Adjustment candidate John J. Manning and Zoning Board of Adjustment candidate Arthur Nobrega and another resident, Tim McCarthy.

Manning, who has lived in Salem for 45 years, said that the top concern for him when it comes to Salem's schools is the safety of the kids.

As for his duel candidacies, he said that the ZBA meets once a month while the school board meets once a week. He added that his retirement gives him the time to handle both.

Manning currently serves as an alternate on the town's ZBA and was previously a state representative for four years.

Arthur Nobrega, who is also running for ZBA, said he was sold on a 'yes' vote for the casino referendum when three of his surrounding neighbors lost their homes. The traffic impact and possibility of added crime kept him on the fence, but the possibility for economic development pushed him toward the positive end.

At Fisk Elementary School, Betty Gay was busy working one of the check-in desks, spoke to the strong organization of the "Strengthen Our Schools" parent group lobbying for the school renovations.

"If it doesn't work this time I don't know how they're going to get it to work," she said of the effort to pass the proposal.

School Board member Bernard Campbell was also working the polls, where he said that the turnout was better than the usual town election.

Fisk School was running just over 900 ballots submitted at around 2:30 p.m.

As of 2 p.m., the Senior Center had seen about 910 voters cast ballots.

Quieter foot traffic has happened at the Lancaster and North Salem Elementary Schools, where 537 and 510 ballots were cast as of around 3:30 p.m.

The total for the four locations tallies out to just under 3,000 voters, save for new ballots cast in the last hour, which is average for a town election but pales in comparison to the nearly 9,000 voters who crowded six polling locations last year.

Across the four polls, very little has been seen in terms of problems apart from typical complaints of the ballots being too long. 

This is the first town election that has seen four polling locations in Salem instead of the typical six. Those who used to vote at Soule School not go to Fisk School, while former Barron School and Town Hall voters now go to the Senior Center.

The general election last November saw a record turnout of over 16,000 voters. The amount of votes caused massive delays with full results not coming in until just before 2 a.m.

Polls will close today at 7 p.m. followed by an announcement of the results, which will take place at Town Hall.