Morning Brings Sparse Voter Turnout in Farmington, Hills

Polls opened this morning to light voter turnout in Farmington and Farmington Hills. Precinct 4 (at ) reported only 47 voters in more than three hours during the morning, far below what is usual in a Presidential election year. However, many precincts reported a higher than usual number of absentee ballots.

As of mid-afternoon, balloting was going smoothly throughout the area, and there were anecdotal reports of traffic at the polls picking up as the day wore on. At some precincts, students assisted voters, including Eric Waldron and Christian Bertucci, both 17, and seniors at . They are also members of the National Honor Society.

In addition to races for the Farmington and Farmington Hills city councils school board members for the (Precincts 1- 4 and 7 - 26) and the Clarenceville school board (in Precinct 27 only), the Farmington Hills ballots included a Charter Amendment for a Public Safety Millage and a Millage Renewal. Several voters we talked to came out to support the library.

Hills mayoral candidate Barry Brickner ran unopposed, as did Farmington School Board candidate George Gurrola, who is seeking a partial 4-year term.

A number of candidates were represented outside polling places; campaigners are allowed to post signs and hand out literature, so long as they stay at least 100 feet from the polling place. City crews were out early Tuesday morning marking those boundaries. 

Stay tuned to Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch this evening, as we broadcast election results from Farmington and Farmington Hills city halls.