Election Day Scene: In East Falls, no voting rush | Philadelphia Inquirer

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Election Day Scene: In East Falls, no voting rush

Inquirer staff writer David O'Reilly reports:

Voter turnout in today’s elections appeared light at mid-day, with several polling places reporting a fraction of the numbers they saw in the historic presidential election of a year ago.

“We’re seeing about three every half hour,” said Sue Sauerman, an observer at the poll at the Alden Park apartment complex on West Schoolhouse Lane, who was doing needlepoint while she waited. “And that’s with an inflation index,” joked Democratic committeeman Hugh Donahue. The East Falls district, whose 1,721 registered voters include hundreds of students at Philadelphia University registered last year by the Obama campaign, had seen only 37 voters – most of them middle-aged and older - by 10:30 a.m.

The district attorney race was “my main reason” for voting, said Richard Hawkins, 81, a retired sugar refinery worker.

Following Hawkins into the booths was real estate developer Bob Brasler. Voting is “part of my DNA,” he said, but added that “as the past president and founding CEO of the National Constitution Center, I also feel a sense of duty” to vote.

Iris Williams, judge of elections at the polling place at the Phillipian Gardens apartments in the 5100 block of North 6th Street, said 47 of the district’s 1,307 registered voters had voted as of 11:30 a.m. .

“I think a lot of people woke up this morning to learn about the SEPTA strike, and they’re mostly thinking about how to get to work,” she said.

“I just came out to vote Democratic,” Marcial Torres, 86, a retired factory worker, explained through an interpreter, “and because it is a privilege to vote.” Martha Hudnell, 80, said she came out because the district attorney race “means a lot.”

At Guild House West in the 1200 block of Fairmount Avenue, election judge Lugina Robinson said she expected most voters to turn up after work, “but the SEPTA strike might hurt some of that.” As of 12:20 p.m., 54 of the district’s 1,262 voters had cast votes.

“It’s very important to vote for the judges,” said 63-year-old Willie Brown, a retired worker at the Sun Ship plant in Chester. “But I vote in every election.”

Read more breaking news in our From The Source blog.

Posted by Inquirer Online Desk @ 3:43 PM Permalink | 1 comment

Comments

Posted 04:32 PM, 11/03/2009

fafafooey

It's probably light because the unions and 0bamaACORN bussed their lemmings over to New Jersey to vote for Corzine....