NASHUA – Ward 8 moderator John Lisle anticipates quite a large turnout at his polling location today during the New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

City polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and upon opening the doors at his location, Lisle is expecting a line of 50-75 voters. He said that likely won’t stop until he closes the doors tonight.

Lisle is starting his fourth term as moderator and said Ward 8 is the largest ward in the city in terms of registered voters. He also said his ward probably has the smallest polling place, which is Bicentennial Elementary School, located at 296 East Dunstable Road. Lisle said this has been a constant challenge over the past six years or so, but is confident he and other poll workers will be able to manage.

“Primaries for the election workers are most difficult,” Lisle said.

He said his ward has just under 7,500 registered voters, and anticipates hundreds of new registrations today; however, Lisle also said about 40% or so of his ward is undeclared, meaning voters can pick either ballot. He noted, poll workers could have a situation where they do not know if the undeclared voters are going to pick up a Republican or Democratic ballot. Lisle said this results in workers having two ballots available for these voters, one of each type.

“There may be a lot lower Democratic turnout than expected, because a lot of voters are telling me when I talk to people – at least on the Democratic side – that they don’t care who wins, as long as it’s a Democrat,” Lisle said. “I think that was one of the messages that should have come out of Iowa – that the media missed it completely. A lot of people just didn’t bother turning out because all the candidates were acceptable to them. I think this is the dynamic that people are missing.”

Another factor that may result in less Democratic turnout is weather. Lisle said if the weather is bad, that is going to depress turnout, but the turnout for specific candidates, mostly those candidates who older voters are supporting.

On the other hand, Lisle assumes Republicans are going to vote heavily for President Donald Trump, but also said a lot of right-leaning Independents as a result might vote in the Democratic race, just simply to either express their unhappiness with the president, or to cause trouble.

Lisle said a lot of the usual people helping out at the polling location are not offering their services this year because too many want to be involved in the election. Lisle also said as a result of those wanting to participate, whether that be holding signs for their candidate of choice or whatever else, he is short a couple of poll workers from what he has been allocated. He anticipates dozens of people holding signs outside his polling place.

“I expect a very big turn out because you got so many candidates who are still active in the race, and each of them has their own set of supporters,” Lisle said.

Ward 1 moderator William Bordy said workers at his polling site, located at Broad St. Elementary School, 390 Broad St., are going to be doing everything they can to keep lines as short as possible. Bordy said he made a real effort to recruit people for this election, with a much larger staff on hand than normal. While it’s hard to predict today’s turnout, he said the primary is very important.

“It will help determine the future of the candidates that are currently running and whether they’ll be competitive in the following states,” Bordy said.

Polling locations and ward information is available on the The Telegraph’s website at www.nashuatelegraph.com and in today’s print edition, starting on Page A1.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter