WESTFIELD – Both mayoral candidates, as well as City Council contestants, are working to get a substantial voter turnout tomorrow at the polls.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and are in the same locations as the last general election. Voters in Ward 4, Precinct A, will cast their ballots at the Juniper Park building on Western Avenue.
Mother Nature also seems to be cooperating as the forecast for Tuesday is for sunny conditions with high temperatures approaching 70 degrees and a light wind of between 5-7 miles an hour.
Both Mike Roeder and Brian Sullivan said this morning they are working to get their supporters to the polls.
“I’m looking for a large turnout, better than the last three general elections,” Sullivan said. “I’d like to see it in the 40-45 percent range, but with only the mayoral and council elections contested, it may be tough to get that kind of turnout.”
The last municipal election to get those numbers was in 2007 when 42 percent of registered voters in the city went to the polls. The key election that year was the mayoral election between Mike Boulanger and Brent B. Bean.
“I’m out right now doing a visibility standout,” Sullivan said. “My campaign team is working the phones, sending email and texts; we’re planning to work right through tomorrow to GOTV, Get Out The Vote.”
Roeder said that he also has been urging his supporters to get their neighbors and friends to go to the polls.
“I’m hoping voters turnout it big numbers,” Roeder said. “I’d like to see a mandate, a turnout of between 12,000 and 13,000, not the 6,000 we’ve seen for years.”
There are just over 23,000 registered voters according to the City Clerk’s Office.
“If we get that kind of turnout, win or lose, I’ll take that as a mandate to either keep going in the same direction or make a change, not just in the mayor’s race but the City Council races as well,” Roeder said.
