Framingham Election Primer 2012
You may select only one ballot today - Republican, Democratic or Green Rainbow Party.
Today is the primary election in Massachusetts. Voters will head to the polls to decide who will appear on the final election ballot for November. Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all 18 precincts in Framingham.
Since Framingham is now represented by three state representatives, there will be three different ballots in town.
State Rep. Chris Walsh, a democrat, is running unopposed for re-election in precincts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15. No one is running for the state representative seat on the republican or green rainbow ballots.
State Rep. Tom Sannicandro, a democrat, is running unopposed for re-election in precincts 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 18. Republican Jon Fetherston is running unopposed on his ballot. The two will face off in November. There is no green rainbow party candidate.
In Precinct 3, which includes Saxonville, State Rep. Tom Conroy is being challenged on the democrat ballot by Framingham resident Steven Hakar.
In many race, candidates are unopposed in the primary.
In all 18 Framingham precincts, on the democratic ballot, there are four candidates for Governor's Council. They are Brian M. Clinton, Robert L. Jubinville, Patrick J. McCabe and Bart Andrew Timilty. You can only vote for one.
Also there are five candidates running for registry of deeds. They are Robert B. Antonelli, Frank J. Ciano, Maria C. Curtatone, Tiziano Doto and Maryann M. Heuston. You can only vote for one.
On the republican side, there are three challengers seeking to unseat congressman Edward Markey. They are Frank Addivinola Jr., Jeff Semon and Tom Tierney of Framingham. You can only vote for one. The winner will take on Democrat Markey in the November election.
Kristen L
9:25 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012
I was very disappointed when I went to vote this morning with my husband. We went to a polling location we had never been to before, Keefe Tech, because we have moved recently. There were no signs anywhere that told us where to go. Once we were at the school it took us about fifteen minutes just to find the polls. I know this isn't the only location this is true for because the same thing happened to me at a school in Natick earlier this year. I think everyone has the duty to vote but they really don't make it easy for people. My husband almost gave up and left without voting he was so aggravated. Two signs that said "Voting This Way" would have cleared everything up.
As a side note it'd be great if Patch put together a side-by-side comparison of the candidates and the issues for the future. A simple article like that the day before the election would really get people informed and out there voting.
Jeffrey Rivard
12:08 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
I remember they had signs when school was out the last couple times. Kudos, for finding the booth though to both of you.
Dear Patch peoples,
I too wish there were more information before voting...at least the day before. I was particularly upset at the lack of information on the General's Council and other positions such as the Registry of Deeds and (District Clerk?). It's time consuming to find that information. I can get Federal and State candidate information anywhere. Give us more localized stuff, please! Anyway, I appreciate the work you do now already. At least I knew the Governor's Council was up for grabs.
Susan Petroni
12:13 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
Kristen: Thanks for the suggestion. We do that for the Framingham election in the spring, but perhaps we should expand it for other elections too.
Susan Petroni
12:12 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
We posted a review of the Republican challengers for congress earlier this week and covered a debate during the summer.
We ran an report on the Governor's Council debate, partly sponsored by the Framingham Democratic Party, in August - http://framingham.patch.com/articles/governors-council-candidates-debate
But I will make note to post a review article on candidates for County positions earlier than we did this year. Thanks for the feedback.
Kim Poness
7:49 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
Susan - is there a way to find out how many people voted in each precinct? I asked, but they said they couldn't tell me. I think I saw a sheet that showed a grand total of 21 from my precinct, and that was at 6:00pm. I hope I'm wrong! On another note, a teensy thing that bothers me is that I'm unenrolled, and I really wanted to vote both parties. But that's a story for another day, I suppose.
Susan Petroni
9:16 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
@Kim - I'll get a list tonight/tomorrow from town hall on how many votes were cast in each precinct.
Don't expect a lot. At 1:55 p.m. I was voter #55 in Precinct 15 and Precinct 18 at 2 p.m. had only 35 votes.