Polls Slow in Kent for Super Tuesday Primary Election

Getting to help a voter cast their ballot was a treat for some election workers in Kent on Tuesday, as Portage County's largest city saw a low turn out for the March primary.

Poll workers chatted, filled out crossword puzzles and read to pass the time as voters slowly trickled in at Kent's 21 different polling locations.

Official turn out numbers weren't available Tuesday night, but Portage County Board of Elections Deputy Director Linda Marcial said she wasn't surprised to hear polls were not busy late in the day in Kent.

"It's going to be slower than expected," Marcial said.

Just 25 voters cast their ballots before 6 p.m. Tuesday in Kent's precinct 4A, which had its voting booths set up in the .

"Which is slow," presiding 4A judge Fred Skoke said. "But it's not unusual for us for a mid-term (election)."

Fewer than 20 voters cast ballots before 6 p.m in precinct 5C, which was set up in an adjacent room in the wellness center.

Todd Fisher, the presiding judge for precinct 5A, said he expected a larger turn out because that precinct had the only local issue — a vote on Sunday liquor sales for new downtown restaurant .

Just 55 voters had come to to cast their ballots in the precinct by 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The precinct also had two provisional ballots.

"It's definitely slower than last November," Fisher said.

At a nearby table, precinct 3B presiding judge Theresa Zurzolo said they had slightly more voters with 81 having cast ballots by 6:40 p.m. Still, she described the day as "Slow. Very slow.

"I was surprised," Zurzolo said. "I thought the democrats would be interested in the sheriff's race and the county commissioner races, and the republicans would be interested in the presidential race."

Poll workers at the Kent American Legion Post on Mogadore Road saw larger turn outs, as the legion hall hosts four different precincts: 2C, 2B, 3D and 3C. About 100 voters cast ballots in precinct 2C by 5:30, and traffic picked up as voters getting off work stopped in.

More than 120 voters had cast ballots two hours before polls closed in precinct 2B, where one poll worker said that showed more than 20 percent turn out for the precinct.