Voter Turnout Low in Winchester

So far it’s been a slow Election Day in Winchester as 10 percent of the town’s 13,916 registered votes have made it to the polls.

Assistant Town Clerk, Kathleen Cramer said they hope to get that number close to 20 percent

“It’s been lousy,” sad Robert Crockett, the Warden of Precinct 6 about the turnout. “There are still committee members in each party that are looking to get elected, and that’s a big deal to some people.”

But with no contested Democratic races, there hasn’t been much turnout for today’s primary.

“Most people have been coming in dribs and drabs,” said Steve Moore, Warden of Precinct 3. “It’s what I expected, since there’s no contest on the Democratic side.”

And similarly to the state, the majority of Winchester residents are unenrolled, with Democrats nearly doubling the amount of Republicans in town.

Out of the 13,916 registered voters in Winchester, 7,633 are unenrolled, 4,216 are Democrats, 2,026 are Republicans, six are in the Green-Rainbow Party and 35 are listed as “other.”

The discrepancy between registered Republicans and Democrats in Winchester could also part of the reason for the low turnout.

“We have a substantial amount of more registered Democrats than Republicans,” Moore said.

For Precincts 5 and 6, a change of scenery hasn’t slowed down voter turnout. Due to construction at the , those two precincts were moved to the

“We’re very happy with the facility,” said Dave Williams, Warden of Precinct 5. We’re going to be here all of 2012 and so far we’ve been very satisfied with the facility.”

Residents have until 8 p.m. to head to the polls to cast their vote.