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Politics & Government

Updated: Election Inspectors Say Voter Turnout Robust So Far

An update on midterm elections.

At polling sites across Three Village, election inspectors said turnout has been steady and robust, although not as crowded as in presidential election years, with peak traffic from the after-work crowd in the evening.

Election workers at said voters began lining up 10 minutes before voting began Tuesday morning. By 5 p.m., more than 850 people had voted. Over the next two hours, close to 300 additional voters showed up.

David Thompson, an election inspector from Lake Ronkonkoma who has worked every primary and regular election in the last 18 years, said the morning and afternoon were steady but the evening had really picked up with after-work voter traffic.

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"With these economic times, people are frustrated and they're more interested in having their voices heard," Thompson said. "They're venting their frustrations and hopefully they're a voice for change."

Acording to election inspector Helma Clavin at , nearly 400 people had turned out to vote by 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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"It's been amazing, very busy," she said.

The same was also noted by inspectors at the , where lines of about a half-dozen waited to vote with no reports of excessively long waiting times.

"Big turnout. Not quite presidential, but it is active," said election inspector Anatol Makarenko. "It's been steady from the minute we opened."

By 2 p.m., more than 700 people had cast their ballots at , where election inspectors said there hadn't been a lull all day.

The exception may be taking place at , which has about 5,000 registered voters eligible to vote on campus at the Student Activities Center polling site. One campus publication, THiNK Magazine, reported on Twitter that only 170 people had cast votes by 1 p.m.

The Suffolk County Police reported no election-related incidents at polling sites in the Town of Brookhaven as of 3 p.m.

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