Voter Turnout Light at Farmington, Farmington Hills Precincts

If there's one word for the turnout Farmington and Farmington Hills precinct workers are reporting in today's presidential primary election, it's "slow". 

City clerks in and earlier , with thousands of absentee ballots being cast. With only the Republicans having a contested primary, very few Democrats are likely to show up at the polls. 

City of Farmington Deputy Clerk Sue Wendell said Precinct 1, at city hall, had just over 100 walk-in voters as of 3 p.m. At Precinct 6, run out of , about 50 people had voted by mid-day.

In Farmington Hills, Precinct 25 at saw 111 voters by around 3 p.m., with stretches of up to 45 minutes with no one walking through the door. Walter McCoskey, chair of Precinct 2 at , said 116 voters had come through. 

"We're seeing, because of the type of primary this is, very few Democratic ballots cast," he said. Referring to records, McCoskey said 158 voters came through the precinct in the same time period during the 2008 presidential primary.

Standing outside Gill Elementary, Nanci Burnham of Farmington Hills and Chris Thomas of West Bloomfield held signs promoting Republican candidate Rick Santorum. Both were at , where Santorum was the featured speaker.

Burnham said it took some time for her to get to know, and make her choice from, the field of Republican contenders.

"I like his values, what he stands for," she said. "I've listened to his speeches, and I feel like he has a good plan and the courage to make it happen."

Thomas said she began backing Santorum about a year ago, after hearing him speak on Glenn Beck's Fox News talk show. 

"He just seems to me to be a man of integrity," she said. "He's not running because of the power, he really believes he can do something for our country, and I admire that."

Both women reported they had seen mostly "thumbs up" signs from motorists driving by – and no other fingers displayed. 

"People are very friendly," Thomas said.