Slow Stream of Voters for Boston City Council District 6 Special Election

A low voter turnout was expected for today's Boston City Council District 6 special election, and those expectations were met across the district. But of course that wasn't going to stop the candidates from hitting up polling sites.

Candidate Jim Hennigan was rotating with his wife, Jude, at the Holy Name School polling site and St. George's.

At Holy Name, Hennigan said that he's gotten great feedback and "many, many people say they're voting for me."

Inside Holy Name a poll worker said they hoped to hit 200 ballots cast by the end of the day in Ward 20, Precinct 20. For the Sept. 14 election, 600 votes were cast.

Outside of the school, Hennigan greeted voter Sean Joyce, who later said he was voting for Matt O'Malley, "I've known the kid for a while. He's strong and energetic. The council needs some new blood."

Just down the road at the Roche Family Community Center there were none of the customary sign holders around 1 p.m. In fact, there was only a lone golden retriever, Lilly, who was sitting outside of the center.

Like Hennigan, candidate Sean Ryan said that he feels many voters left their house knowing whom they were going to vote for.

Outside of the Lyndon Pilot School, Ryan approached Theresa McIrney for her vote, as he handed out a postcard to support him.

Said McIrney, "I came out to vote because it's a special election. No more John Tobin. It's probably Sean Ryan (for me) because he was so nice to me the other day when he knocked on my door. And he made an impression on my 22-year-old daughter, which is hard to do."

After she walked away, Ryan added, "It's gratifying to see people on Election Day who already know me and recognize me from door knocking." But he said he didn't have a large enough sample size to determine how well he was doing around 2 p.m.

Up at the St. George Church, Hennigan had switched with his wife, and was greeting voters at the same time candidate Chun-Fai Chan was.

Chan said he started his day at the church, "I'm letting them know that I'm a schoolteacher and I want their vote… The schools are the number one issue in West Roxbury and we need to provide quality schools to everyone in Boston."

The West Roxbury Library was one of the busier voting locations, but possibly because people were coming to use the library, and not just vote. Candidate Matt O'Malley was greeting people with State Treasurer candidate Steve Grossman.

Said Grossman, "I want to stand with him in the winner's circle tonight. I want him to be in the winner's circle with me in two weeks - and then in the winner's circle again with him on Nov. 6.

O'Malley previously worked as the statewide field coordinator for Grossman's campaign.

O'Malley said he planned to be at the library most of the day to greet voters. When asked about how he felt, O'Malley said, "Excellent. I'm feeling nervous, excited, anxious and positive."

Voting ends at 8 p.m. to determine the two finalists for a Nov. 16 final election to determine who will be the next District 6 Boston City Councilor.