Residents Await Results of Town Council Election

Update, 9 p.m.: The polls for Kensington town council closed promptly at 9 p.m., with a few stragglers running through the doors just as they were being shut. And now, the counting begins.

The winners should be announced roughly around 10 p.m., according to Chief Judge Robin Watson. She said that three people will be counting the ballots, which are "folded like origami," and then they'll count them again.

The mayor and candidates will be called with the results and then the results will be posted on the door to the town hall entrance.

Update, 8:08 p.m.: A lull hit Kensington's town hall for the first time around 7:45 p.m., after a continous flow of residents made their way to vote for town council candidates.

Candidate John Thompson said that people will continue to show up until 9 p.m., but that the rush has slowed a bit. He noted that he's seen a lot of first-time youth voters tonight, and that a lot of new residents of the town have made their way to the polls.

No one knows who will win the election yet, but Thompson remains positive.

"I would hope for a positive outcome for Mackie [Barch] and me," he said.

Candidate Barry Peoples didn't reveal what outcome he hopes for, but said, "It's going to be a tight race."

Even though there's been a break in the rush at the polls, Peoples said that it's been a "tremendous turnout" thus far.

Residents can cast their vote for the two open council seats until 9 p.m.

Original Post, 7:15 p.m.: The polls are open at the for residents to cast their vote for two town council seats.

Candidate flanked by Councilmember Lydia Sullivan greeted voters as they made their way up to the town hall. Candidates and , surrounded by

Councilmember Sean McMullen and Mayor Peter Fosselman, welcomed voters on their way in and offered thanks for taking the time to cast a vote. Around 7 p.m., candidate arrived, cast his vote, mingled with Thompson then joined Peoples to talk with voters.

Since 6 p.m. a steady stream of residents have made their way to cast their paper ballot. Since the voting process is done manually, there will be no updates throughout the voting process to see how many people out of the registered 1277 residents have voted thus far, according to the chief judge. 

"We've had a pretty good turnout so far, and we're at the halfway mark," Chief Judge Robin Watson said.

Residents can continue to vote until 9 p.m. At that time, the ballots will be counted and the results will be posted on the door of the Kensington Armory, and the mayor and candidates are contacted with the results by the Board of Supervisors of Elections.