Slow, But Steady Voter Turnout in West Hartford

A slow, but steady stream of voters have been going to the polls in West Hartford for the municipal election on Tuesday.

As of 12:30 p.m., about 1,500 residents out of 14,847 registered voters (about 10 percent) had cast their ballots in the town’s three largest polling locations - Town Hall, Braeburn Elementary School and Bristow Middle School.

At Town Hall (District 3), just 367 voters had cast their ballots, though Bristow and Braeburn saw more activity.

Republican Registrar of Voters Eleanor Brazell said that there were no reported issues of long lines at the polls and that things were going smoothly. The registrars of voters along with a Town Council subcommittee worked for nearly a year on issues that arose at the polls during the presidential election in 2012.

This is the first municipal election where there are nine polling locations, which is a reduction from 20 from just two years ago.

“We didn’t have any complaints, but we also did not have the crowds like we did for the presidential election,” Brazell said. Still, the registrars divided the books into four at the polling locations to ensure little, if any, wait times at the polls.

As of 11:30 a.m., five people had taken advantage of the same-day voter registration program that is in its first year.

Twelve candidates - six Democrats and six Republicans - are vying for nine seats on the Town Council, while five candidates are running uncontested races for five seats on the Board of Education.

At Braeburn Elementary School, Republican Town Council incumbents Denise Hall and Burke Doar said that they were pleased with how their campaigns were run.

“We had an incredible slate of hard-working candidates,” Hall said.

“All of us ran a positive campaign,” Doar added. “[The new Republican council candidates] gave a lot of energy. … We wish them all the best of luck.”

Hall noted that the area was finally blessed with some good weather in late October to enable candidates to go door-to-door and discuss issues with residents.

At Bristow Middle School, Democratic Town Council incumbent Judy Casperson also said that she was happy with the way the campaign went.

“Running as a team was helpful,” she said of her fellow Democrats. “It was more of a listening tour, with people more willing to open their doors and talking on the phone.”

Casperson said that notable issues people wanted to discuss were the town’s pension status and the residential development approved in Elmwood.