As Republican mayoral candidate Ken Johnson aptly put it, turnout at the polls Tuesday was "very poor."
Of the 31,777 eligible voters, only 36.3 percent showed up to cast a ballot. That means a mere 11,527 turned up at the polls, leaving nearly 20,000 potential votes uncast.
Two years ago, 38.4 percent of the voters showed up for the mayoral race between Republican William Stortz and Democratic incumbent Gerard Couture.
To be fair, there are only a few towns in the state where more than half the registered voters bother to turn out for municipal races.
Yesterday, even the hotly contested mayoral race in New Britain could only draw 30 percent of voters there to the polls.
In general, the cities and towns that have the worst turnout are also the poorest, most wretched places. So getting a good turnout is one indication that a municipality has the sort of active, interest citizenry that everybody purports to want.
So it's disturbing that Bristol can't muster more voters on Election Day.
Johnson is absolutely right about that.
*******
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
16 comments:
AND THOSE THAT DIDN'T VOTE WILL BE THR FIRST TO COMPLAIN!!!
if you will build it...a political scene that is more inclusive of all sectors of the community and school elections not tied to parties...they will come to the polls.
BOLOGNA! X MAN! PEOPLE ARE LAZY! ALSO I SPOKE TO MANY PEOPLE TODAY AND SOME SAID THEY ARE DEMOCRATS BUT DIDNT LIKE WARD, THEY DID NOT REALIZE THEY COULD VOTE FOR JOHNSON! ONLY THE PEOPLE THAT ARE POLITACLY SAVY KNEW THE RULES, NO EDUCATION FOR THE NEW VOTERS
If I understand the previous statement correctly, people thought that they had to vote their party affiliation. Hmmm, the first time I heard that.
well i suppose it all depends on the different TYPES of people that you know!
3:18 What bubble do you live in! Hmmm first time you heard what? Do you think everybody has their nose up some politicians ARS like the SOME of the people that blog here! Not all of the citezens in this town or any other know the do's and don'ts. Maybe you would be so gracious as to host a info-session for the next election in 2009! I will even help! Gee your swell!
Steve,
when I saw you walk in the Republican meeting place, well I wanted to vomit! After the trash that you posted about Ken Johnson re: the real estate issue I did not think you deserved to be in the same room with the rest of us. Too bad, I thought you were a good guy!
That "trash" was simply the truth. Steve had every right to be there. I'm glad he was.
3:34 Poster: Are you for real? Do you truly think some people are so ignorant that they think they can only vote for the candidate of their party? If I thought for a second this was true, I would say good thing: anyone that dumb shouldn't be voting.
5:37
Sorry to say, but no need to swear. Did you not go to school?
Did they not teach you anything in school about voting?
I am 39 and we had voted in grade school and high school here in
Bristol for mock election for president of the U.S.A, or are you notfrom the USA and don’t know the system. Not knocking where your from, cause I came from Colombia and I find it very hard to believe that you didn’t know about how to vote different parties, South side school, memorial boulevard and central did at least teach that when I went to school.
just me:
You're right to be angry. It seems Ward manipulated the Bristol Press well in the general and the primary. Whether his campaign supporters had anything to do with this last minute "November suprise" will never be known. The fact that there is a connection makes it very plausable.
But then again, Collins as a reporter (it is said) has the responsibility to report information he receives and in this case it was true.
Unfortunately the timing of this story was bad for Ken. Perhaps for that reason and the lack of ties to being a responsible mayor should have dictated that the story be withheld. Why not do a story on Ward's history as the owner of the A-Ward Cafe as well (for the sake of good reporting)? Also it was notworthy for the Courant to do a story on Couture's record as a police-man, but the Press chose not to mention it (until it became embarassingly odd for them not to acknowlege the fact).
I think the voters got quite a lot for my 40 hours a week.
I'll try to explain it one more time - Mr. Johnson did something WRONG. Try to stay with me here. It is NOT a conspiracy by Mr. Ward, Mr. Collins, Mr. Herman, the Bristol Press or the Seven Dwarves. You should be concerned about what Mr. Johnson did wrong. Both the timing and the wrong doing were the results of Mr. Johnson's actions and no one else's.
Jerry,
I DID go to school, No I was not able to finish due to the tragic car accident that took my parents life and I was left to care for my siblings. I did not grow up in a warm home with lots of love, support and hot meals on the table. Nor did I have nice clothes to wear. I was robbed of an education and I have never had time to learn about politics. I did do a mock election in elem. school but at my age and all I have been through I am sorry to say but that memory just did not stick with me. I am sorry I even said anything, I am obviously not with the program and could never be as SMART as you and the rest of the people that understand the process so I suppose I am the IGNORAMOUS. Sorry to have wasted your reading time.
The Marino's did have a role in the "November Surprise." I'm not sure Art Ward lnew anything about it, but the Marino's especially Gloria were knee deep in it.
I think it was Stortz who gave them the info, not Ward.
I can totally see that. It has been amazing to many people to see Stortz and Ward cozy up over the last month but it was a shared goal - no Johnson.
Post a Comment