Election Day 2009

Afternoon rush hour at Westbrook Park Elementary proved to be anything but as the two polling places contained in the school’s gym saw small numbers of voters during the 2009 election. The low turn-out could be seen at other locations across Upper Darby and throughout Delaware County today with less than 22 percent of registered voters showing up.

Republican candidates won every contest on the Upper Darby ballot as was expected by Republican Mayor Thomas Micozzie.

“I think we will have strong wins in each one today” Micozzie said. “Today was a little down in turnout, not unexpected in an off year election”.

Dave Tarole spent the day standing next to Micozzie handing out literature and talking to voters about Democrat Barbarann Keffer, who lost her bid for Upper Darby Council at large. The two men of rival political parties smiled and chatted as they did their duties.

According to an election official on site Westbrook Park had 258 voters total by 6:00 p.m. despite the fact that the two precincts served by this location contain over 1,100 registered voters.

One of the voters on this day was Eric, a casually dressed man in his late 30’s whose hair was just starting to gray, “I voted today because a friend of mine is running for office” Eric said with a grin.

The gym was empty except for a handful of election workers. The separate precincts served by this location were distinguished only by two large sets of metal voting machines, each with a bright blue curtain, being placed at opposite baselines of the basketball court. Three oversized cheap plastic tables had all the voter rolls and office supplies placed in a neat and orderly fashion on top of them.

But, a four minute drive up the road to the Wawa located on the corner of Baltimore pike and Bishop Ave. was where the real action was. Cars came in and out like they were on an assembly line. Wawa cashiers struggled to get their lines moving in a timely fashion while the customers waited with varying degrees of patience.

The first 8 Wawa patrons questioned said they had not voted today. Even though all but one claimed to be aware it was Election Day. The precincts covered by the Westbrook Park location spanned across Wawa’s property.
“This year is not that important”. Michelle of Secane said. “I have no idea who is running and I have no idea who to vote for.”

Two young women who also identified themselves from Secane agreed. “We’re just not political people” they said.

One voter thought that turnout was so low because people were just hung-over from last year’s campaigns. “That last thing lasted like two years and at a certain point it’s like enough is enough” Eric from Clifton Heights said. “Plus there are too many ads. At a certain point there’s only so much you can take.”