Campaign workers and signs lined city streets near polling stations on Tuesday in hopes of attracting last-minute voters for the 2005 Mayoral and City Council election.
According to unofficial city election results, about 35 percent — or 97,000 people — of about 272,000 eligible voters cast votes yesterday.
At the Myles Standish Hall polling station on Beacon Street, warden Steven Gallanter described turnout as “moderate.” Out of roughly 2,500 registered voters, 145 votes were cast as of 2 p.m.
“Because of work and classes, the polls get most crowded after 4 p.m.,” Gallanter said. “But this area is mostly concentrated with out-of-state residents who are not in the area year-round.”
Gallanter said there was no comparison to turnout in last year’s presidential election when “the room was packed.”
Since Mayor Thomas Menino’s reelection seemed to be a “sure thing,” the City Council race was most important to voters this year, Gallanter said.
At the Josiah Quincy School on Washington Street in Chinatown, poll workers were overwhelmed with the large turnout of voters. Poll worker Andrea Arroyo said that the large Puerto Rican community and residents in the area care about their communities and the issues involved. By the late afternoon, more than 500 voters had cast ballots at the polling station and showed no signs of slowing throughout the day.
Poll workers at the Hill House Community Center on Mount Vernon Street said fewer than 200 of 2,000 registered voters had shown up at the Ward 5 Precinct 11 polling station in the afternoon.
“The mayoral race showed a much bigger turnout than the preliminary,” poll worker Jim Aharonion said. “It was busy before work and will get busier after 5 p.m.”
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