Stamford turnout similar to 2008 so far

STAMFORD – As of 3 p.m., 29,126 Stamford citizens had made their way to the city’s 22 polling places to cast their ballots in this year’s presidential election, according to Democratic Registrar of Voters Alice Fortunato. That figure account for 49.35 percent of the city’s registered voters.

“That’s pretty good. And that’s not counting absentees, which we have almost about 5,000,” she said.

During the 2008 election, a total of 82 percent of Stamford voters turned out to cast their ballot, ultimately electing President Barack Obama for his first term. By 3 p.m. that year, the city had seen a 55 percent voter turnout.

“I think we knew today was going to be pretty big,” Fortunato said Tuesday afternoon. While the turnout is technically behind the pace set in 2008, that could be a little deceiving, she said.

With 5,000 absentee ballots factored in — a bigger number than most years, due to power loss from Hurricane Sandy — the actual voter percentage as of 3 p.m. is 57.8 percent, meaning this could be a big turnout year for the City That Works.

Maggie Gordon