Election Day 2012: High Voter Turnout In Granby, East Granby [Updated 4 p.m.]

4 p.m. Granby Update

A joint message from Granby registrars of voters Laura Wolfe and Maureen Wolf shows that this election is attracting an especially high amount of voters.

"Turnout is thus far 4422 voters, 60.6 percent, as of 2:45 pm, on track for a record turnout!" the registrars wrote in a joint message sent to Granby-East Granby Patch.

3 p.m. East Granby Update

East Granby election moderator Brad Wolfe described Tuesday's stream of voters into the East Granby senior and community center as "pretty busy" but "very smooth and steady."

About 1,710 East Granby voters had taken to the polls by 1:30 p.m. That number, along with about 180 absentee ballots, gives an unofficial figure of 1,890 total ballots cast. That amount is slightly higher than 50 percent of all registered voters (about 3,500 in all).

Faith Burns was standing with supporters of Republican candidates Tuesday afternoon but was non-partisan in her support of voting efforts. Ringing a bell and wearing a sandwich board reading "Vote — Today — Vote," Burns was happy to draw attention to herself if it meant attracting people to the polls.

"It's great exercise," she said. "And it's so much fun. If it gets anybody to vote, it's worth it."

She pointed out that "many of our best and brightest have made the ultimate sacrifice" to allow us to live in a democracy and vote. She said performing that civic duty is a basic responsibility.

Frank Negrotti, a Korean War veteran, and Jeff Peloquin, who served in Vietnam, were out supporting President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates. They advocated for a strong middle class, social welfare programs — government-sponsored health care and social security, among others — and moving the country forward.

Negrotti stressed that he doesn't want a government that lacks compassion and said that jobs need to stay in the country to create a strong middle class. He said many of the large factory jobs available when he was younger are no longer in US, a large contributor to the contraction of the middle class.

"When the jobs left America, America left America," Negrotti said.

Peloquin agreed with Negrotti, saying that jobs and government programs oriented towards growing the middle class are what the country needs to get back on its feet.

"I don't want China being our home manufacturing location," he said. "The middle class has been decimated enough."

Peloquin said the president has the ability to move the US forward and get the country back on its feet.

"We're here for Obama," he said. "The other [Democratic candidates] represented here are also very capable," he said of the cluster of signs supporting local and state candidates outside the senior center.

Republicans advocated their positions as well. When asked why he was supporting the GOP ticket, Doug Dodd had a succinct response.

"Does that really require an answer?" He asked.

Bill O'Neill, another Republican supporter waving to cars as they carried voters to the polls, explained why he was a strong supporter of Linda McMahon's bid for US Senate.

"I'm in favor of Linda McMahon and I have worked for her campaign," he said.

He said McMahon's business expertise will be a boon to the country. He also pointed out her stable personal financial situation, saying that "she won't be beholden to anyone — she'll act in the best interests of the state of Connecticut."

O'Neill said a long conversation with McMahon convinced him that her beliefs and plans for the state are the best option for its residents.

"I had to cast my ballot for her," O'Neill said.

1:30 p.m. Granby Update

As of 12:30 p.m., Granby had an unofficial count of 3,232 votes tallied at the two machines operating at Granby Memorial High School. Combined with 563 absentee ballots returned, the total tally in the early afternoon was 3,795 votes, just slightly more than 50 percent of the total number of registered voters (about 7,300 in all).

The process in Granby has been smooth so far, according to Laura Wolfe, registrar of voters.

"People are very happy and the school did a lot to accomodate parking this time," Wolfe said, noting the contributions of other town departments, including Granby police and the department of public works.

Granby's other registrar of voters, Maureen Wolf, made sure to express appreciation for one of the hardest-working groups on election day.

"We're very grateful for our poll workers," Wolf said.

The turnout is relatively high, with more than 50 percent of voters turning out less than halfway through the day's voting hours (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

"We've had a surprisingly large number of people who haven't voted in years and years coming in," Wolfe said.

Noon Update

Good afternoon, and welcome to Election Day 2012! We'll have updates from the polls in Granby and East Granby coming soon. Don't forget to tell us what your voting experience was like  in the comments. .

Original Story

Today, Granby and East Granby residents go to the polls to choose a president, a U.S. Senator, a U.S. Representative from the First District, state Senators from the seventh and eighth districts and state Representatives from the 61st and 62nd Districts.

Additionally, Granby residents will vote on two local questions. Voters will choose whether or not to approve a number of revisions to the town charter by voting yes or no on two independent questions, divided into revisions related to the annual approval of the town budget and all other revisions. Learn more about the local questions in Granby and see ballots for both towns here.

See below for information on where to go to cast your ballot and the list of candidates. We've also included how Granby and East Granby voted in 2008, the year of the last presidential election, and in 2010, the last mid-term election.

Read it over, then visit your local polling station between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. to make your voice heard! And be sure to check back with Patch for updates throughout the day, including the announcement of the winners as soon as votes are tallied.

Granby Polling Stations

• District #1 (Senatorial District 7): Granby Memorial High School community gym, 315 Salmon Brook St. Granby
• District #2 (Senatorial District 8): Granby Memorial High School community gym, 315 Salmon Brook St. Granby

East Granby Polling Stations

• District #1: East Granby Senior and Community Center, 9 Center St., East Granby
  

How East Granby Voted in 2008 (86% Turnout)

(D=Democrat; R=Republican; G=Green; I=Independent; WF=Working Families; CL=Connecticut for Lieberman)

PRESIDENT

• Obama-Biden (D) — 1,612 votes
• McCain-Palin (R) — 1,303 votes

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FIRST DISTRICT

• John B. Larson (D) — 1,468 votes
• Joe Visconti (R) —  1,038 votes

7th SENATE DISTRICT

•  George Colli (D) — 1,186 votes
•  John A. Kissel (R) — 1,355 votes (154 Working Families votes)

61st ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Matthew Conway Jr. (D) — 163 votes (16 Working Families votes)
• Lauren Life (R) — 167 votes

62nd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Annie Hornish (D) — 1,134 votes (103 Working Families votes)
• Richard Ferrari (R) — 1,160 votes

How East Granby Voted in 2010 (66% Turnout)

(D=Democrat; R=Republican; G=Green; I=Independent; WF=Working Families; CL=Connecticut for Lieberman; SA=Socialist Action)

U.S. SENATE

• Richard Blumenthal (D) — 955 votes
• Linda McMahon (R) — 1,184 votes

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1st DISTRICT

• John B. Larson (D) — 976 votes (57 Working Families votes)
• Ann Brickley (R) — 1,131 votes

7th SENATE DISTRICT

• Karen Jarmoc (D) — 943 votes
• John A. Kissel (R) — 1,238 votes

61st ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Elaine O'Brien (D) — 146 votes (9 Working Families votes)
• Malvi Lennon (R) — 125 votes

62nd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Annie Hornish (D) — 996 votes (43 Working Families votes)
• Bill Simanski (R) — 873 votes

How Granby Voted in 2008 (88% Turnout)

(D=Democrat; R=Republican; G=Green; I=Independent; WF=Working Families; CL=Connecticut for Lieberman)

PRESIDENT

• Obama-Biden (D) — 3,456 votes
• McCain-Palin (R) — 2,947 votes

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FIRST DISTRICT

• John B. Larson (D) — 3,159 votes
• Joe Visconti (R) — 2,496 votes

8th SENATE DISTRICT

•  Arthur House (D) — 758 votes (44 Working Families votes)
•  Kevin Witkos (R) — 1,008 votes

7th SENATE DISTRICT

•  George Colli (D) — 1,820 votes
•  John A. Kissel (R) — 2,150 votes (257 Working Families votes)

62nd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Annie Hornish (D) — 2,887 votes (324 Working Families votes)
• Richard Ferrari (R) — 2,901 votes

How Granby Voted in 2010 (72% Turnout)

(D=Democrat; R=Republican; G=Green; I=Independent; WF=Working Families; CL=Connecticut for Lieberman; SA=Socialist Action)

U.S. SENATE

• Richard Blumenthal (D) — 2,246 votes
• Linda McMahon (R) — 2,636 votes

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1st DISTRICT

• John B. Larson (D) — 2,199 votes (81 Working Families votes)
• Ann Brickley (R) — 2,613 votes

8th SENATE DISTRICT

• Donald O'Brien (D) — 469 votes (21 Working Families votes)
• Kevin Witkos (R) —  1,012 votes

7th SENATE DISTRICT

• Karen Jarmoc (D) — 1,420 votes
• John A. Kissel (R) — 1,999 votes

62nd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

• Annie Hornish (D) — 2,303 votes (95 Working Families votes)
• Bill Simanski (R) — 2,595 votes

Voter totals and numbers provided by the Connecticut Secretary of State's office.