MANCHESTER, NH – By 10 a.m. there was little delay for voters moving through the well-organized Ward 4 poll labyrinth.
Ward Moderator Steven Mathieu said there had been about 2,000 ballots cast so far at McDonough school – half for candidates and the other half for the ballot question pertaining to school committee governance. There had also been 700 absentee ballots received, Mathieu said,which were being counted on site with a pair of poll-watchers observing.
Once inside voters were directed to take a spot on line alphabetically where they could check in and receive a purple ticket, which they then exchanged for two ballots. From there they could find an open spot in one of eight voting kiosks, each able to accommodate four voters at a time, or sit at a long cafeteria table with another dozen spots and privacy barriers.
After filling out ballots, the longest line was for sliding ballots into the tabulator.
Outside there was a large contingency of sign-holders for Democratic candidates, a trio of Trump/Messner supporters, and two sign-holders supporting Carla Gericke, the GOP candidate for State Senate.
Missing from the Ward 4 voting hub was the usual spread of lunch food and baked goods normally sold as a fundraiser for the school – and to keep voters fed and happy.
Polls remain open in Manchester until 7 p.m.
