Turnout Steady as Voters Continue Adjusting to New System

Voters showed up in a steady stream at several Three Village polling sites on Tuesday morning, though some voters reported they are still adjusting to the new voting system.

"It's been nice and busy, a steady flow," said Bob Ceroni, a Three Village resident who volunteered to help steer traffic to the voting room at Arrowhead. "People come in with a smile on their face. If it stays like this for the next four hours, I'll be happy."

At Murphy Junior High in particular, election workers found themselves explaining the process frequently. One inspector suggested it was because of the high population of senior citizens in that neighborhood.

"There are two retirement communities around here," said Sandy Mayper, an inspector who has been working elections since the 1970s. "It's a nice day, so they come and vote."

Mayper said she heard complaints from older folks about the small print on the paper ballots. Jack Finnegan of Stony Brook was one of those with complaints.

"They could make the ballots a little larger for older people," he said.

Raafat el-Maghrabi of Setauket said he liked the old voting machines much more than the new system.

"It's OK if you know what you're doing, but I don't know what was wrong with [the old machines]," he said.

At , 279 people had voted by 11 a.m. At , that number was 230 people, while at , 206 people had cast their votes.

By 4:45 p.m., 431 people had voted at the , and 206 people had voted at .

Brookhaven supervisor Mark Lesko showed up to vote at Arrowhead around 11 a.m., saying more voters appear to have turned out at that time than in the previous town race two years ago.

"From my perspective, it will mean that our field campaign has done its job," he said. "High turnout is good for democracy, whether you win or lose."