Early turnout in Bristol is way up UPDATED

By 8 a.m., 4.8 percent of the city's voters had already cast a ballot -- 349 more than in 2011, when turnout at the same time was only 3.5 percent. If this keeps up, overall turnout would go up from 29 percent to perhaps 38 percent for the day. City Democrats believe if they get that big a turnout, it will be good day for their candidates. The best turnout so far is at Chippens Hill, where 8 percent of registered voters cast their ballots before 8 a.m. Other hot spots: Bristol Eastern High School, Northeast Middle School, Edgewood and West Bristol. The precincts where the pace is a bit slower are generally the more Democratic ones, but that may not indicate anything other than there are more commuters voting before work in the northern third of town.
Updated at 9:19 a.m. -- Turnout is still going strong. After three hours, turnout totaled 7.2 percent of registered voters, a pace so much quicker than 2011's municipal race that it's possible the overall turnout for the day could reach 40 percent if it keeps up. That compares to 29 percent two years ago and even less in 2009 (when a flu scare probably kept some voters away). Put another way, about 525 more voters have shown up at the polls by 9 a.m. than at the same time two years ago. That's a whopping difference.

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