Voters Headed to Polls in Braintree Tuesday With Minds on Civic Duty

Interviews with nearly two dozen Braintree residents voting throughout the town's 12 precincts on Tuesday showed a dedicated electorate – 31 percent of Braintree's nearly 24,000 registered voters turned out – casting their ballots largely out of a feeling of civic engagement rather than for a particular issue or candidate.

A lack of state or federal races on the local ballots likely contributed to the low turnout (though it was fairly high for a municipal election in Braintree), along with a dearth of hot-button issues.

Several residents, though, polled informally and randomly outside various precinct polling locations, said they made sure to get out on Tuesday to vote for Mayor Joseph Sullivan, with one voter declaring the opposite – that he wanted to cast a ballot against the incumbent.

Marge and Thomas Kerns, outside of , said they showed up to support Sullivan and current council president Charles Ryan. Jeff Edelson, voting at , also turned out for the mayor.

"I like what he's doing," Edelson said.

Other candidates were named as well, but the dominant answer on Tuesday among voters went along the lines of what Terry Jarrett, voting at , said about citizen participation.

"I'm responsible to have a say in my government because I care about where I live and work," Jarrett said.

All nine current town councilors retained their seats on Tuesday, as did Sullivan, taking 85 percent of the vote against challenger Paul Walsh. The School Committee will see three new members next year – Kelly Foley, Lisa Heger and Tom Devin. For more information on the election, see , with reaction from candidates Tuesday night, comprehensive voting data and more.

At , Michele Scarpa said she came out to support Adam Ringius, who fell to incumbent John Mullaney in the District 2 contest. Patrick and Linda Kennedy said they supported Shaza Alzaim for School Committee, and Sullivan as well.

"We vote every time," Patrick Kennedy said. "We get dismayed when not a lot of people turn out."

Judy Kennedy, another, unrelated voter at Hollis, said it is her responsibility to head out to the polls. "Don't complain if you don't vote," she said.

Manning the raffle table outside of St. Thomas More, Arianne Rucky said she was headed inside to vote as soon as her backup arrived. Sullivan's accomplishments were on her mind, Rucky said, along with Braintree schools, as she is a Flaherty Elementary PTO member.

A survey completed several years ago by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press shows that among those who vote in elections frequently, 91 percent say they do so because they are interested in local politics, with 88 percent agreeing with the statement that it is their "duty as a citizen to always vote." Those numbers drop-off but remain above 50 percent for intermittent and rare voters.

"I always make it a point to go, whatever the election," said Paul Harrington, stopping by Ross Elementary near closing time at 8 p.m. Another voter, who declined to provide her name outside , said as she strode into the polling center that she was voting "just because you should."

Bill Redmond, also at Liberty, said civic engagement was also his priority. "People can have more influence locally," he said.

Over at , Herb Zwicker felt strongly about voting, regardless of the ballot makeup.

"I think it is my civic duty to vote whether I like the candidates or not," he said.