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The voting booths at the Danbury War Memorial, the polling place for the fifth ward, stood empty at 6 p.m.

DANBURY – It could be because of the hot weather, Republican assistant registrar of voters Scott Demuth said, offering an explanation for the  “fairly light” turnout at the Danbury War Memorial, the polling place for the city’s fifth ward. 

By  6p.m., only 376 of the 1,842 registered Democrats and Republicans had voted. Even during the after-work hours, a typically busy time for the polls, only a few people came in to cast their votes.

Eileen Coladarci, a Democrat vote moderator, explained to a resident that she could not vote since she was unaffiliated.

“Quite a few unaffiliated people have tried to vote, more than usual,” Coladarci said. “They all want to vote for Mark, for their mayor.” 

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is the Republican party’s endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor.

“Some folks are even upset because they’re not in right party to vote for him,” Republican moderator John Whitcomb said.

Almost all of the voters in the fifth ward were of the “walker and cane” demographic, Democrat assistant moderator Eleanor Elias said.

However, there was one young woman who was beaming because she was voting  for the first time, Whitcomb said.

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Reminder: Unaffiliated CT voters aren’t allowed to vote in primaries!

Unfortunately, some learned this lesson the hard way today, making the trek over to their local polling station, only to be rebuffed as soon as they got near a voting booth.

One such voter in District 4, Dr. Ann Cea, seemed a little miffed as she walked back to her car at New Lebanon School.

“They should have had on the radio that you have to be registered,” she said. “They’re pushing how people should go and vote, (because) Connecticut’s not having a good turnout. So I said, ‘Well maybe I’ll go over there.’ But I can’t even vote!”

John Perling, Republican moderator for District 4 and 4a, said he’s had to turn away about 10 unaffiliated voters today.

“It’s not uncommon during the primaries” for some unaffiliated voters to turn out, only to be turned away, he said. “They’ll have a heart affiliation, but it’s just not on paper.”

The protocol for poll workers is to encourage these voters to come back in November, when they can vote in the general election, and offer them a town registration card, so they at least have the option to change their affiliation later on, he said.

Cea said she’s definitely planning to vote in November — but don’t expect her to register as a Democrat or a Republican.

“I like doing what I do what I do” as an independent, she said. “I may pick one from here, or one from there, because I look at the credentials of the different people.”

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The sign outside of the Linda McMahon War Room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, Conn., Tuesday evening, august 10, 2010. Photo by Bob Luckey.

Just took a peak inside McMahon’s “war room.”

Looks like the Joint Chiefs should be huddled inside.

I count at least six flat screen televisions, more laptops than the media work room and a whole lot of suits.

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According to unofficial totals from the town, a total of 2,708 Republicans, or about 20 percent of the 13,448 total registered GOPers in town, have cast ballots at the town’s 12 polling places as of 6 p.m. For Dems, 1,720 voters, or about 19 percent of the 9,126 Dems registered in town, have voted.

Combining Republicans and Democrats, 4,435, or near 20 percent of the 22,574 registered GOPers and Dems, have voted thus far.

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Construction at North Mianus School has shut down the parking lot right by the gym, making access to the polls difficult for some. Voters can either park right in front of the school, and walk through to the gym, or park in handicapped spaces in another location — but it’s still a hike.

Dena Elkins came down from Seymour to help her 90-year-old mother Gloria vote. After parking in front of the school and walking with her mom, Dena had Assistant Registrar Gary Pishkur show her where the handicapped spaces are — there were signs, but some people said they found the signage confusing. Dena said the walk to those spots from the gym looked just as far.

“If you can’t make the effort, well, you have to!” Gloria Elkins said about her determination to vote. “I was brought up (that) it was your duty.”

While Pishkur said the town should have moved voting for District 12 to the nearby International School at Dundee, GOP Registrar Fred DeCaro said it was not that simple. Construction started three weeks ago, and registrars have to notify the state “well in advance” if a polling place is changed. DeCaro also explained that handicapped access to a polling place doesn’t have anything to do with the distance people have to walk, but it’s an issue of accessibility, and there are stairs leading to the front entrance of North Mianus.

The moderators also are supposed to offer curbside voting to those who are elderly or handicapped, and request it, DeCaro explained.

“Between curbside voting and the handicapped signage that was there, we did the absolute best we could given the state requirements,” DeCaro said.

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Lawrence Wood of Rocky Hill, Conn., uses an iPad as part of his duties as a volunteer for the Linda McMahon for Senate campaign, during primary night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, Conn., August 10, 2010. Photo by Bob Luckey.

CROMWELL — This should be music to Steve Jobs’ ears.

Trench work goes high-tech at the McMahon campaign, which has equipped its phone-bank volunteers here with iPads to look up the names of registered Republicans to call.

That got us to wondering how many of the touch-screen gadgets the McMahon campaign owns.

Try 60.

Each one of McMahon’s regional campaign offices — Torrington, East Haven, Waterbury, Newington, Norwalk and Norwich — has 10 iPads, sources close to the candidate say.

iPads start at $499.

McMahon’s aides say they are cheaper than laptops and appeal to the younger generation of campaign volunteers.

Call lists of registered Republicans are loaded on each of the iPads.

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CROMWELL — Relax, Democrats.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz is not AWOL.

The state’s top election official did raise a few eyebrows with her appearance here at the Crowne Plaza, where Linda McMahon’s campaign machine looks like it’s gearing up for one heck of a party.

Bysiewicz said she’s only here to do interviews, mostly for the local TV networks, which chose this is a meeting point.

“So it’s a little unusual. I live to serve,” Bysiewicz said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

Bysiewicz said that statewide voter turnout was about 20 percent as of 4 p.m., which is on the low side.

The polls are open until 8 p.m.

“My prediction is at least 30 percent if not 40 percent,” she said.

Just to put the turnout in perspective, about 43 percent of registered Democrats voted in the contentious 2006 Senate primary won by Ned Lamont over Joe Lieberman.

In the 2008 Super Tuesday presidential preference primary, which featured Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,  53 percent of Dems voted.

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According to unofficial totals from the town, a total of 2,458 Republicans, or more than 18 percent of the 13,448 total registered GOPers in town, have cast ballots at the town’s 12 polling places. For Dems, 1,386 voters, or about 15 percent of the 9,126 Dems registered in town, have voted.

Combining Republicans and Democrats, 4,007, or a little more than 17 percent of the 22,574 registered GOPers and Dems, have voted.