By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Because a significant number of Westport’s registered voters had already cast ballots during the two-week-long period of early voting, turnout at local polls appeared lower than usual Tuesday — the “official” Election Day of the 2024 political season.

Moderators at several polls informally surveyed by the Westport Journal reported Tuesday’s turnout appeared lighter than it traditionally is in a presidential election year.

“It has been steady all day. It was hard to know what to expect because of early voting,” said Bill Humphrey, assistant registrar at the Long Lots Elementary School polls. “It’s been very smooth.”

“We’re seeing about 85 people an hour,” poll greeter Andrew Turner said at the polls at Greens Farms Elementary School.

Voter Bob Byrne said he preferred to go to the polls on Election Day, and not before. “I like to show up on Election Day to be sure that I can cast my ballot,” he said.

As of Oct. 30, 5,254 registered Westport voters had cast ballots during the early-voting period that began Oct. 21 and ran through Nov. 3. That number included 1,243 absentee ballots, according to figures posted on the town website.

This year is the first time that Connecticut voters are eligible to cast ballots in advance of a general Election Day, under a change approved to the state Constitution by voters in 2022. Voters in the state’s presidential and congressional primaries earlier this year also were able to take advantage of early-voting periods, although the number of days allotted was shorter than for the Nov. 5 general election.

One big difference this year was a lack of candidates and party loyalists campaigning outside polls. 

By 12:30 p.m., there were no last-minute campaigners outside polls at Long Lots, the Westport Library or Greens Farms Elementary School.

Political signs, however, were posted everywhere.

Greens Farms did have a group of Republicans campaigning there earlier in the morning, including Michael Goldstein running for the 4th Congressional District seat, and Kami Evans, vying for the 26th state Senate District.

Goldstein said he had no idea what the election results would be.

“This election is going to be decided by previously undecided voters, and by the turnout,” he predicted. “Anything can happen.”

Another Republican, voter Ben Gerig, who said he had never voted for a Democrat, cast his ballot for Kamala Harris for president, he said as he left the Long Lots polls.

“I’m excited for Harris to win and I’m a Republican,” he said. Gerig decided to vote for a Democrat for the first time because “Jan. 6 is the biggest issue for me — and the Dobbs decision” by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Another voter who said she cast her ballot for Harris was Casey Berg at the Greens Farms polls.

“I hope Kamala wins. I’m optimistic,” she said.

A member of the Westport Democratic Women, Danielle Teplica, was advising voters at Greens Farms to vote “yes” for the state constitutional ballot question on easing absentee ballot use, as was Pegeen Rubenstein, a member of the Resisters women’s group, outside Long Lots.

Most of the voters she spoke to supported the absentee ballot question, but there were a few who said they would not vote for it because they “were worried about fraud due to misinformation,” Teplica said.

— John Schwing contributed to this report.