I’ve received reports from several precincts in and around the city of Pittsburgh today that indicate that voter turnout is huge. In Squirrel Hill, by 10 am, turnout had already exceeded 30%. Election workers there believe it will easily exceed 50% by the time the polls close. In Penn Hills, Homewood, Shadyside, Oakland and Wilkinsburg, election workers all indicated that turnout was heavy already this morning. I’m waiting on a report from East Liberty where the Obama Pittsburgh headquarters are located, and I’ll update you all on that once it comes in. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a record turnout for a Pennsylvania primary in Pittsburgh today.
I should also point out that these precincts are locales where Obama should do very well, and where Effie’s earlier reporting on yard signs in these neighborhoods bears this out.
To put this into context, in 2004, only about 30% of registered voters turned out to vote on April 22nd.
UPDATE:
Turnout in East Liberty is also much higher than usual.
Everyone who has worked elections in the past has been commenting on the numbers and variety of people coming out to vote. Election officials working the table in the community room upstairs in the library, when asked if they had good turnout, all turned to stare at me. “Oh, yeah,” said one of them, as the rest nodded. “Great turnout.”
Ron, the security guard at the library, who works the door for the before and after library-hours voters said this election was different than ones he has worked in the past. “You get used to the same faces,” he commented. “Every time the first person to vote is this old white guy. This year there was someone here even before him.” The variety of people showing up was also commented on by several people at the library. Not only voters of different racial groups were showing up, but also lots of young people in addition to the people who usually made it out to vote.
Whatever the results of todays polling in Pennsylvania, voter involvement seems to be at record highs.
