Voter turnout was somewhere between on par and above average on a sunny and warm Election Day during which Longer Islanders will decide the next Suffolk County executive, the leadership of both county legislatures, the majority of town leaders and 10 judgeships.
“I think it’s been very steady. I’m optimistic,” said Dorothy Walsh, a poll inspector at a Northport school on Laurel Avenue. She said turnout appeared to be higher than normal for an off-year election while Anna Seitz, a poll coordinator at the same location, said turnout was on track to top 20 percent by 6 p.m.—about what was widely expected.
“It’s not too high and not too low,” Seitz said.
William Biamonte, the Democratic Nassau County Elections Commissioner, said turnout was “consistent with an off-year.” He said turnout appeared to be higher in the more competitive races like the one between Democrat Delia DeRiggi-Whitton and Republican Rob Germino, who are running for the lone vacant seat in that county.
Long Island Voters Elections 2011: Complete Long Island Voters’ Guide
The most-watched race on the island is between Democratic Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone and Republican County Treasurer Angie Carpenter, who are running for outgoing County Executive Steve Levy’s job.
Levy, a Democrat who turned Republican in a failed gubernatorial bid last year nixed his run for a third term in March after turning over his $4 million war chest to prosecutors to settle a criminal investigation into his campaign fund raising practices.
“I voted for Steve Bellone because he’s done a good job in Babylon keeping the taxes low,” said Harry a former Babylon resident from Deer Park after casting his vote at the Deer Park Community Center. He predicted the Democrat will win.
“There’s a young lady who we like and we voted for her,” another voter who didn’t give his name said of Carpenter. “We know her for years.”
The balance of power in the Suffolk County Legislature may also be in play. Democrats and the third party allies that caucus with them have a 12-6 edge over Republicans. But the majority leader and another Democratic lawmaker are term-limited while a legislator in the Independence Party is retiring.
Republicans have an 11-8 majority in the Nassau County Legislature. At stake in both county legislatures is which party will be in power when legislative districts are redrawn next year, a process that is undertaken following each U.S. Census.
Ten of 13 town supervisors island-wide are also up for re-election, including the leaders of Riverhead and Southampton townships who are facing rematches from opponents they unseated two years prior.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.
-With Spencer Rumsey and Rashed Mian