Waltham's Voter Turnout On Primary Election Day 2018

WALTHAM, MA — Nearly 20 percent of registered voters in Waltham cast a ballot in the 2018 Primary Election. It was a bit slow going at first, but by the end of the day, the number of voters picked up. According to city data, there are 34,198 people registered to vote in the city and of those, 6,785 voted.

That's right between the percentage of voters out at the polls than neighboring communities.

To compare, Brookline saw nearly 30 percent voter turnout. Boston saw nearly 25 percent turnout. In neighboring Newton the city estimated 18 percent turnout.

By 2 p.m. in Waltham 8.78 percent of voters came out and that's more than what happened in 2016, when only about 5 percent of voters turned out for the last State Primaries.

Waltham voters leaned in favor of Geoff Diehl for the Republican ballot for Senator in Congress Charlie Baker for the Republican Governor ticket, mirroring the State trend. Check out the results here: MA Primary Election Results

At least one prospective voter told Patch he wanted to vote but had to give up when he had trouble finding a parking space at Northeast Elementary School.

Dan Murphy said there was no parking in the Teacher's Lot in front of the school which is his polling location, unless you have a handicap sticker, or disobey all the "No Parking" signs in the fire lanes or signs in the driveway to the school between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

"Guess what? I came back to work!" he said in an email to Patch. "Low Turnout? What would the City of Waltham expect when they make it IMPOSSIBLE to access the Voting locations."

How's the statewide election going? Check out the results here: MA Primary Election Results

Waltham voter turnout by ward:

Check out this election guide:

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff