Poor Turnout in Manchester for Republican Presidential Primary; Romney Wins

It was a poor showing in Manchester Tuesday for the Republican presidential primary, with only 15.9 percent of registered Republicans in town showing up to vote. 

According to Republican Registrar Tim Becker, 797 registered Republicans in town out of 5,004 turned out to cast a ballot at the town's eight polling places Tuesday. 

Of those who voted, the breakdown was as follows: 

• Mitt Romney 496
• Ron Paul 131
• Newt Gingrich 87
• Rick Santorum 63
• Uncommitted 20 

"It's a pretty slow day as far as politics go. We have the primary, but it's not like there's a huge amount of activity," said Matthew Galligan, chairman of the Manchester Republican Town Committee. "I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that realistically the nomination fight is over, coupled with the fact that this is a later primary date than we are used to." 

Galligan said he was only the fourth person to cast a ballot at his polling location at approximately 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

Becker also noted that voter turnout was down considerably from past primaries. In the 2008 presidential primary, 35.5 percent of registered Republicans in town turned out to vote, according to Becker, and 53.3 percent of registered Democrats. In 2000, the last time prior to that there was a Republican presidential primary, Becker said that 39.7 percent of registered Republicans turned out to vote. 

The primary, which is mandated by state statute, cost the town approximately $15,000 to conduct Tuesday, according to Becker, which includes costs to staff the eight polling locations in town, costs to print about 2,500 ballots and assorted overtime and miscellaneous costs. That works out to roughly $18.82 cents per vote cast Tuesday. 

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