WESTFIELD – John C. Velis ascribed his victory at the polls yesterday to his independent voting record during his six-month tenure in the House of Representatives after winning a special election in March, a message that was apparently heard by members of the city’s largest voting bloc, citizens who decline to identify with any party.
Those unenrolled voters, formerly called Independents until that designation was hijacked, constitute more than half of the city’s registered voters. The number of unenrolled voters is 13,068 out of 24,316 voters registered in Westfield.
Yesterday 12,800 voters went to the polls to elect federal and state officers, mostly candidates sponsored by the two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans, but in Westfield those traditional parties have only 6,601 and 4,508 registered members respectively, which when totaled are still lower than the actual voter turnout yesterday.
Other parties, including the Rainbow Party, Pirates, Socialists Conservative Party, Green Party, Natural Law Party, and Massachusetts Independent Party comprise only 161 voters seeking to identify themselves as non-traditional party members.
The heaviest turnout was in Ward 5 with 4,953 ballots cast, followed by Ward 1 with 4,299 votes cast. Ward 6 has a turnout of 4,057, with Ward 3 at 3,606, in Ward 4 3,962 voters cast ballots and in Ward 2 3,439 ballots were cast.
“The people of Westfield said tonight that they agree with my political philosophy,” Velis, registered as a Democrat, said. “I made a pledge about not putting (party) politics first. In a very resounding fashion voters said (at the ballot box) that I did what I said I would do, voting in the best interest of Westfield.” Unenrolled voters are allowed to cast a ballot in either party’s primary.
