Cape Cod absentee voters leaning right
| With the national spotlight on the 10th Congressional District race, Secretary of State William F. Galvin said it is the Republicans who have the energy so far.
“You’ve got a lot of independents going to the Republican Party,” said Galvin, a 15-year incumbent seeking re-election Nov. 2. While Galvin, a Boston Democrat, said he had not examined the statewide numbers closely, a disproportionately high number of Republicans in Barnstable County had requested absentee ballots. As of Oct. 15, of the 14 Barnstable County communities with numbers available, 10 of the towns had more Republicans than Democrats requesting absentee ballots. “I don’t think there’s a single town where the Republicans have more registered voters than the Democrats,” Galvin said. At least two recent polls have shown the 10th Congressional District race between Sandwich state Rep. Jeffrey Perry and Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating to be a statistical dead heat. Both the Democratic and Republican state parties have launched targeted efforts statewide to encourage those who qualify to cast absentee ballots. Because it has a high population of second-home owners and home-bound elderly, absentee voters in Barnstable County could determine the winner in the10th District, officials in both parties said. “Absentee ballots play a large role in tight races like this,” said Tory Mazzola, Northeast spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Philip Johnston, former chairman of the state Democratic Party, agreed. “I know better than anyone how important every vote is, and I don’t think one should leave anything to chance in an election,” said Johnston, who was declared the winner in the 1996 congressional primary but lost in a recount to William Delahunt by about 100 votes. “It’s going to be very, very important that those absentee ballots get cast,” he said. Galvin is quick to note that the requests for ballots will rapidly increase as the Nov. 2 election approaches, and those requests could swing in the Democrat’s direction. “It’s still very much up in the air,” he said. The total number of voters requesting ballots so far is not out of the ordinary, according to local town clerks, and the pace of voter registration is not as intense as it would be during a presidential election. But the number of contested races, tight races and anti-incumbent fever has piqued voter interest, officials said. “It’s definitely busier on the Republican side,” Barnstable Town Clerk Linda Hutchenrider said. “I think Scott Brown kind of turned the tide,” she said. Even in Provincetown, where there are fewer than 100 registered Republicans, five GOP absentee ballots were requested. “That’s quite a turnout so far,” said Provincetown Town Clerk Doug Johnstone, taking a break for a phone interview while residents were filling out absentee ballots in his office. “Out of a hundred, that’s not bad.” Keating campaign spokesman Steve Crawford cautioned that the absentee numbers thus far are too small to predict an entire election. “I’m sure the secretary of state would agree it’s really too early to predict the outcome based on a few dozen more absentee ballots being taken.” Galvin said absentee ballots show little more than voter interest and energy, but he pointed out that he has learned a lot after 15 years running all nonmunicipal elections in the state. “A lot of people were shocked after the Brown election, but I wasn’t, because I had been looking at the absentees,” Galvin said. Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry, who said he was not surprised to hear Barnstable County Republicans might be more active this election, said he would trust Galvin’s judgment. “His forecasts on turnout have been very accurate over the years,” Berry said. Absentee voters •Barnstable: D: 207, R: 233 U: 296 •Bourne: D: 95, R: 113, U: 154 •Falmouth: D: 259, R: 133, U: 300 |