UPDATE: 'A Steady Trickle' of Voters Through Afternoon

Poll workers at three locations in Bernards Township reported slow but steady numbers of voters through the afternoon, with polls due to be open until 8 p.m.

The township has 18,518 registered voters. As of about 2:40 p.m., 99 voters had cast a ballot for district 12, in the Liberty Corner firehouse, one of 24 voting districts in the township.

At The Hills Recreation Center in The Hills, which houses five voting districts today, the most of any voting location, poll workers also described turnout as slow but steady at about 3 p.m.

But one poll worker asked that voters be reminded to check the number of their current voting district, since some people were shifted into different districts following the 2010 census.

As of mid-morning, polling locations in the Liberty Corner and Basking Ridge firehouses were fairly slow, but a greater number of voters had checked in before work hours, soon after the polls opened at 6 a.m., and more were expected after school and when those with day jobs arrive home, polls workers said.

"We had commuters between 6 to 7 a.m.," Lee Delitzscher, a poll worker for district 7 at the Basking Ridge Firehouse on Washington Ave., said shortly before 11 a.m.

Other poll workers at the firehouse said there was also a bubble of voters shortly after parents had dropped off their children at school, and also mid-morning when those who likely are retired arrived. In district 7, residents from Bethel Ridge, which serves adults with special needs, arrived as a group to vote.

"That was absolutely a joy," said Shirlee Cashen-Chaplin, a poll worker for district 7. "They were so excited to be voting," she said of the residents from Bethel Ridge. District 7 reported that 48 voters had visited the polls as of about 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday.

Between early morning voters and people with children a few hours later, district 2, which also sends voters to the Basking Ridge Firehouse, had seen "a steady trickle," of residents from nearby streets coming in to vote, said poll worker Kathy Holusha.

"I think we will have a blip [later]," Holusha said. She said poll workers are expecting more voters will arrive after school lets out, and when people arrive home from jobs. As of just before 11 a.m., 61 voters had signed in for district 2, she said.

Basking Ridge has 24 voting districts. The polling locations and rundown of candidates is included in a separate story. Tuesday's election includes a race for two seats on the Township Committee, as well as representatives for Somerset County freeholder and state senator, as well as state assembly, in district 21. As of 2012, Bernards Township will be switched from state legislative district 16 to district 21 under a state redistricting plan implemented earlier this year.

To read about that information,

After she had just finished voting at the Liberty Corner Firehouse on Church Street in the township's Liberty Corner section, Christine Ellis of Basking Ridge said, "I am appalled that people don't vote. I have always voted in every single election."

Like others who spoke to the Basking Ridge Patch on Tuesday morning, Ellis said residents have no right to complain if they don't bother getting out to vote.

Ellis was accompanied by Barbara Schmidt of Basking Ridge, who agreed that voting is a way for residents to show their pride in their country, and to be "part of the fabric of American society."

Schmidt said her husband and father are both veterans. She said she believes voting also is "a tribute to those who died or came home battered" from fighting wars. "I think if you fail to vote, you almost discredit their service."

Both women said they had read up and listened for themselves what the candidates had to say before casting a vote. "I was at the library when Kean spoke," Ellis said of Thomas Kean, Jr., the incumbent state senator for district 21. "I go around and try to hear the candidates personally."

Exiting the voting location at the Liberty Corner firehouse, John Burns and his wife, Joan, both agreed that voting is a right and privilege.

The couple also agreed that some issues — such as the recent power outage — often are beyond the scope of local officials.

The Burns said they were without power from Saturday, Oct. 29 through that Friday.

"You would think with technology, they would have a better system in place," Joan Burns observed. Her husband suggested that unusual weather patterns should be examined in light of global warming, and on a global basis.

Bob Cohen, a resident of The Hills development, said that many people, with limited time, tend to focus their attention on such larger issues, and often don't top to see how decisions by local officials can affect their lives. Cohen said he was expecting to vote later Tuesday afternoon.

"Unless a person really is involved with the election, you don't really know that much about the people you are voting for," Cohen observed. Residents are more likely to pay attention to local politics if there were something major going on in their town, such as a major tax hike.

"People are involved with what's happening in the national scene. It gets to the point where there's a limited amount of time to put into it," he said.

Inside the Liberty Corner firehouse, poll workers there also reported seeing a steady but not overwhelming flow of voters since polls opened at 6 a.m. for districts 12 and 14.

"It's been pretty light but steady," said Glenn Taylor, poll worker for district 12.

But in presidential elections, the line often is out the door on election day, said Taylor and his fellow poll worker, Cecilia Piorkowski, said that in presidential elections the line often is out the door.

Yet, the poll workers agreed that a single vote — or certainly a handful — can hold more sway in local elections.

"I cannot tell you how many elections were settled by one or two votes," said Bob Baker, a master board worker employed by the Somerset County Board of Elections. He said his task is to check out all the voting locations in Bernards Township to make sure that each is compliant with poll regulations and updated standards.

What to do with absentee ballots not filed

For example, he told the poll workers in Liberty Corner that absentee ballots previously obtained by residents will not be accepted at the township voting districts. That issue was a point of confusion in April's school election, which resulted in an initially indeterminate race between school board candidates Beverly Cwerner and Priti Shah, later settled by multiple recounts.

In this election, Baker said residents who already have obtained absentee ballots, and have not yet filed them, must either take the ballot to the Board of Elections office at 20 Grove St. in Somerville, or file a "provisional" paper ballot at their local voting location, which county poll workers later will be determined whether it has been properly signed and filled out.

Someone with an absentee ballot already in hand cannot vote in a voting booth, Baker said.