Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Seeing can be disbelieving...

Things are relative quiet at Canterbury Town Hall. Of the 19 privacy booths that are set up, only five are occupied at this moment. Another six voters are in line waiting to check in. It is a far different sight than what I've witnessed elsewhere today.

But that doesn't mean things are slow. They're averaging about 20 voters an hour since the poll opened at 6 a.m. -- and by 2:30, more than 50 percent of the roughly 3,400 eligible voters had already cast ballots. Election official here are estimating as many as 2,800 or 2,900 will vote before the day is over. If true, that would put Canterbury well into the 90-percentile for turnout.

The last time I was in Canterbury for an election was three years ago. Voter turnout on that day was in the mid 80 percent -- and that was a local election. When the opolls closed at 8 p.m. that night, the line was stil stretched into the parking loot and the poll was kept open until the last person in line voted.

It's anticipated the line will again be out the door by 5 this afternoon -- and remaining like that until the poll closes at 8, unless they need to keep the polling place open a little longer to accommodate those last minute arrivals.

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