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Slow going over at Western Middle School, where voters have been showing up at a “slow trickle” all day, moderators said.

As of 4:33 p.m., District 3 had seen the fewest people turn out of any district in town, with 85, or just above 9 percent of its 896 registered GOPers and Dems, voting. Town wide, participation was 16 percent, slightly higher than the state wide turnout.

“We had four people come at one time, and we thought the bus came,” joked District 3 Democratic moderator Edward Fox.

Those lonely few at the polling site had different theories as to why things were so slow:

Republican moderator Angela Little said it’s the heat — temperatures have been pushing 90 degrees — that’s been keeping would-be voters indoors.

Fox attributed the low turnout to recent changes of venue: In previous years, residents had gone to Hamilton Avenue School to vote, but the polling site was switched to Western during Ham. Ave.’s reconstruction, he said. Now that the rebuilt elementary school has re-opened, he surmised that perhaps people are going back to the old site when they should still be coming to Western.

Fox added: ”Being a working class community, I think a lot of people maybe prefer to go later” in the day. That, and it’s a primary: “There isn’t that much of a turnout anyway,” he said.

Mark Perlman, an intern handing out fliers for Congressman Jim Himes, was optimistic things would pick up later tonight.

“It’s more than we were getting in the morning,” he said around 5 p.m. “I think a lot of people just don’t like to get up early.”

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CROMWELL — McMahon’s campaign is burning up the phone lines to boost voter turnout.

The scene inside the ballroom here at the Crowne Plaza, where McMahon is expected to arrive around 7:15 p.m., resembles a telethon.

You’ve got 20 to 25 McMahon volunteers calling registered Republicans from cell phones.

The campaign says it can put out 33 calls a minute from here and other phone banks.

The theory is the higher the turnout, which is said to be low statewide, the better for McMahon.

Linda McMahon for Senate volunteer, Matt Hicks, 17, of Wallingford, Conn., makes cold calls for his candidate using his mobile phone from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell, Conn., August 10, 2010. Photo by Bob Luckey.

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Don’t tell Bill Howland that voting is a waste of time. 

“We have an election and you participate,” said the Riverside resident. ”I like the feeling as though I had something to say about it.” 

“It’ of course referred to Tuesday’s primary that featured three Greenwich residents: Linda McMahon, Tom Foley and Ned Lamont running for high office.

He said their entry may have made it a slightly more interesting race that the primary would have been otherwise for his fellow Greenwich residents.

Although he declined to say he voted for, Howland mentioned he was impressed that First Selectman Peter Tesei backed McMahon.

Fellow Republican voter Jan Jepsen also declined to say who she voted for, but said she wasn’t a straight ticket voter, that is didn’t automatically vote for the officially endorsed Republican candidates.

She said she is concerned about the economy and believed government spending had to be done conservatively.

Rick Tripodi, a Republican, who also voted at Julian Curtis School where Jensen cast her ballot said the economy is also a concern for him.

Like Jensen he also didn’t vote according to the party line, mentioning he was impressed with Ross Garber, who is running against Martha Dean for the Republican nod for attorney general.

On the Democratic side Cassandra Tribble, wife of Claude Johnson, the Democratic candidate for the 151st state representative district in Greenwich said she was torn about whether to vote for Greenwich resident Ned Lamont or former Stamford Mayor Dannell Malloy to be the Democrats candidate for governor.

“They are both very competent but I have to say I was a little put off by the negativity of Malloy,” she said about his campaign. Even though she considered him a successful mayor, the tone of his campaign pushed her to back Lamont.

Leah Marmon, a Republican voter, backed Linda McMahon.

“I think it’s time for some new blood. I want to give her a chance to see what she can do.”

Regardless of who wins Marmon said the winning candidates have to ensure the state gets its fair share from the federal government and invest it in the state’s infrastructure.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done,” she said citing roads and housing for elderly and low income among the top of the list she said needs to be addressed.

New voter Amy Hansen was thrilled to get a chance to vote. The law was changed to allow voters who will be 18-years-old  by the time of the November general election to vote in a party primary in August even though they are 17-years-old.

Some of the staff at her poll at Central Middle School clapped in approval of her turning up to vote.

“For me it’s nice having a voice,” said the registered Republican.

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Greenwich has a slightly higher than average voter turnout than the rest of the state, according to data from the Associated Press. Town-wide participation – 16 percent — is about the rate seen in New London, where 16.5 of GOP voters and 15.3 percent of Dems have visited the polls. Statewide, turnout is around 15 percent.

District 8 (Central Middle School) continues to have the highest number of voters among Greenwich’s 12 voting districts as of 4 p.m.

According to unofficial totals from the town, between Republicans and Democrats, the polling place with the highest total of voters is District 8 (Central Middle School) with 425. That’s over 17 percent of its 2,448 registered GOP and Dem voters. District 3 (Western Middle School) continues to see the fewest voters, with 85, or just above 9 percent of its 896 registered GOPers and Dems, voting.

A total of 2,242 Republicans, or more than 16 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 16 percent of the 9,126 Dems registered in town, have voted.

Combining Republicans and Democrats, 3,634, or about 16 percent of the 22,574 registered GOPers and Dems, have voted.

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Lisa Wilson-Foley, the Simsbury Republican who is challenging Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton — the party endorsed candidate for the lieutenant governor — was working the Farmington River valley today for support.

One of her campaign officials said Tuesday afternoon that Wilson-Foley expects Boughton to win Danbury, but she believes she has enough statewide support to make up the margin.

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In Newtown, 460 Democrats and 688 Republicans had cast a vote as of 2 p.m. The Registrar of Voters did not have a breakdown by district because they computers at the central office were down.

The technical glitch won’t delay the final vote tally tonight, town clerk Mary Ruffles said.

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If you’re wondering what turnout is like in Bridgeport…well so are Bridgeport officials. The Registrar’s Office at 3:30 p.m. did not have preliminary numbers available for turnout in the city.

A visit to several of the East Side polling places indicates, however, that turnout will likely be low in the Park City. At JFK Campus on Palisade Avenue only about 200 people had voted between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.

At Luis Munoz Marin School on Helen Street roughly 100 or so people had voted. Democratic Registrar Santa Ayala said although numbers are not yet available, moderators have reported very little traffic at the city’s other 23 polling stations throughout the day.