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Politics & Government

Election Turnout Low So Far Today

Polls close at 8 p.m.

No rain. No sleet. No snow.  No post-storm blues.

Not many voters, either, at the polls so far this election day.

Aldermen’s seats are contested in three of seven wards—1, 4 and 7—and seven candidates, four of whom are incumbents, are vying for five seats on the School Committee today.

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Approximately 12 percent of the 3,700 registered voters in Ward 7 had cast their ballots by noon, according to City Clerk William Campbell.  That’s low turnout, he said. Campbell predicts 24 percent turnout citywide. Just under 25,000 of the city’s 38,000 residents are registered to vote.

Even with an uncontested mayoral race and no challengers to aldermanic incumbents running for reelection in wards 2, 3, 5 and 6, some voters who did make their way to the polls told Woburn Patch why they came out to vote.

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Some consider voting their right, privilege and duty, regardless how contested— or uncontested—the election.

“I always vote,” John Sullivan told Woburn Patch near the entrance to the , the polling place for voters in Ward 7, Precincts 1 and 2.  The first time Sullivan voted, he said, was “for Harry Truman, in 1948.”

In that ward, incumbent Ald. Raymond Drapeau is facing Charles Viola.

Several other voters at the Reeves School also shared their ballot-casting views with Woburn Patch. Joe and Joan O’Neil have voted every year since they turned 18—except, Joan said, for the year she had pneumonia.

You can’t complain if you don’t vote, said Diane Hennessy. She wonders why the former Tarkey School land hasn't been put to use and wants a cutoff road between Russell and Lexington Streets repaired.

People feel everything is “hunky dory” here, according to Anna Mahan, but some work is needed, she said, such as road repairs.

City-wide, “We need to do something about the library,” said Mary Carol Flaherty.

In response to the one nonbonding question on the ballot, Lillian Preckol said she’s concerned about beer and wine at more restaurants in the city. But she likes a glass of wine when she goes out to eat, interjected her husband, Joe.

Outside the Clapp School—yes, that’s the polling place for Ward 1, Precinct 2— Bill Abel said he’s been voting for more than 30 years. “It’s important,” he said. If you don’t vote and think voting doesn’t matter, “try it,” he suggested.

In Ward 1, incumbent Ald. Rosa DiTucci is facing Alfio Malone.

Outside the Wyman School, Frank Sheeran Jr., said he came to vote to fill a seat on the School Committee, since long-time member Joseph Crowley did not seek reelection. Sheeran has a child at both a city elementary and middle school, he said.

In Ward 4, incumbent Ald. Michael Anderson faces Robert Cremone.

The candidates for School Committee:  four incumbents—Patricia Chisholm, Christopher Kisiel, Denis Russell and John Wells; and three newcomers—Maryann Chorlton, Brett Gonsalves and Frederick Metters.

The polls close tonight at 8 p.m.

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