POLLING PLACE: DONALD MCKAY SCHOOL – 122 COTTAGE STREET
WARD, PRECINCT: 1, 1 & 2
NEIGHBORHOOD: East Boston
TIME: 9:33am
TOTAL VOTES CAST: We are denied a tally (poll worker: “Oh I don’t know if we’re allowed to tell you that dear”)
SIGNAGE WINNER: Although Connolly signs outnumbered Walsh signs 6 to 2 (that I could count), you wouldn’t think there was a mayoral election going on, but rather a closely contested dogfight between “Friends of Suffolk Downs” and “CasiNO.” There were also signs for Jack Kelley, Michael Flaherty, Brian Gannon, Steve Murphy, and Martin Keogh, with Flaherty and Gannon leading.
WHAT WE SAW:
A small group of boomers, divided only by their stance on the casino, argued amicably amongst themselves:
Man: “What are you campaigning against the casino for? Don’t you know it’ll bring jobs to East Boston?”
Woman: “Yeah, well it also brings whores.”
Man: “You don’t think that if you walk down to Maverick Square right now you won’t see prostitutes in the street? Oh they’re there!”
Woman: “Oh yeah and how would you know about that?!”
*Collective Laugh*
WHAT WE DIDN’T SEE: People voting. There were lots of campaigners (both young and old this time) but nobody was waiting in line to actually vote.
WTF?: The streets were more or less deserted. Pigeons pecked at the trash in front of Diana’s Corner Market, as the Venezuelan owners set up shop for the day.
There are more birds than voters out here; word on the street is that much of the local crowd votes at night.
