High Turnout Reported In Some Mass. Polling Places
BOSTON (CBS) - Turnout for Election Day 2010 appears to be brisk in parts of Massachusetts.
In Hingham, election officials tell WBZ News Radio a 70 percent turnout is expected.
Lowell is reporting an unusually high number of voters so far, and Waltham officials are expecting a 50 percent showing by the end of the day.
Officials in Worcester are setting up extra voting booths to handle high voter numbers. They are also surveying all 50 precincts to make sure they have enough ballots.
Read: Who Will Benefit From The High Voter Turnout?
What's driving voter turnout? Some voters tell WBZ News Radio it's all about the governor's race.
Others say it's the ballot questions. There are three state-wide ballot questions that deal with the elimination of the sales tax on alcohol, repeal of the state's affordable housing law, and cutting the state's sales tax rate by more than half.
There are also nine contested Congressional races.
John Walsh, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, tells WBZ News Radio he thinks a high turnout will benefit his party.
Podcast
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe speaks with John Walsh of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
The Secretary of State's office projects more than 2.4 million voters to go to the polls, a total that would equal turnout in 1990, the highest turnout in a non-presidential election year.
More than 4.1 million voters are registered to vote on Tuesday.
