Live Blog: School Bond Supporters Project Win

9:15 p.m.: Ferndale Police Chief Tim Collins, chair of Citizens for Quality Schools, announced a projected win for the Ferndale school bond based on the precincts currently reporting results.

Collins said that based on the current numbers, there was "no numerical way" that the bond would not pass.

Ferndale City Clerk J. Cherilynn Tallman said she was still in the process of transmitting results to the county and couldn't yet discuss the results.

9 p.m.: Supporters of the school bond are gathered at the waiting on final vote results.

Stephanie Hall, Ferndale schools community relations director, said bond "yes" votes were ahead by 1,200 votes right now, but some precincts had not yet reported results.

Follow voting results as they come in here.

8 p.m.: Polls are now officially closed, and election workers from each precinct are heading to to collect the votes.

Ferndale City Clerk J. Cherilynn Tallman said voting day went well.

"Everything has been very smooth," she said.

Stay tuned to Ferndale Patch for voting results shortly.

6 p.m.: Polling locations across Ferndale are beginning to see the after-work rush of voters from now until polls close at 8 p.m.

Included in the evening voters is resident Tom Gagne, who has spoken out against the proposed school bond in and at the .

"I'm going to take my 8-year-old son and the two of us are going to go out and vote in the primary," he said.

Gagne said there was nothing in it for him to speak out against the bond and that the outcome of the vote is really a "lose, lose" situation for him. He said if it passes, people may say he had no impact, but if it loses he could be blamed.

"If it loses, then I get a big target drawn on my foreheard and it will be all my fault. It's lose, lose as far as I can tell," he said.

He said volunteers from have run a smart campaign.

"I think (the citizens group) has done a terrific job in getting their message out," Gagne said.

4 p.m.: While the school bond issue is top of mind for many Ferndale voters at the polls today, residents are also voting on the hotly contested Republican candidate race in Michigan .

"Anyone but Romney," Ferndale resident Mary Ellen Shuffet said after she voted today. "Because he's so anti-union and out of touch with normal people."

Shuffet said she supports the bond issue even though she does not have children.

"I want to keep the standards of Ferndale education high," she said.

Several Ferndale residents said they were mainly at the polls to cast their vote on the bond issue.

Ferndale resident Tammy Crossley said she wasn't very interested in the Republican presidential race today. "The bond is my concern," she said.

Troy Eller, of Ferndale, said she came out to vote in favor of the proposed bond.

"I came here primarily to support the school millage," Eller said.

3 p.m.: Ferndale Deputy City Clerk Marne McGrath said voting continues to go smoothly this afternoon.

She said some residents have asked whether their polling locations have changed for this election because of the .

"They don't take effect until August," McGrath said.

Find information on .

Voting is open until 8 p.m. Results should be available around 9 p.m., McGrath said.

12:30 p.m.: Citizens for Quality Schools member Barb Landry said volunteers from the group have been well-recieved by voters at polling locations, with many residents thanking them for their efforts.

"I feel confident that it's going well," she said. "I think that the bond will pass. The community has been so supportive so far today of the bond."

Volunteers will be at most polling locations through the middle of the day and members from the group will be at all polling locations 5-8 p.m., she said.

Some residents have told volunteers they will be voting no – "and that's OK," Landry said.

"It's been pleasant, which is nice," she said.

More than 135 people had voted at Kulick Community Center by 12:20 p.m. and 63 people had voted at Jackson School in Oak Park by 11 a.m. The count was at 30 voters earlier this morning at Taft Education Center, and 60 voters at the Pleasant Ridge Community Center by 8 a.m.

"I'm anticipating that (Pleasant Ridge Community Center) and Roosevelt probably are high," Landry said.

10 a.m.: Joel Petrie, precinct chair at the , said voter turnout has been OK so far.

"I'd say it's fair this morning," he said. "This is a strong precinct with a very high voter turnout."

Petrie said he expects somewhere around a 13 percent voter turnout today. By 8:30 a.m., 56 people had voted at that precinct.

Included in the 56 voters was Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter, who stopped on his way to work.

Coulter said he said he feels optimistic about the school bond vote. "I think it will pass," he said.

Despite the three different ballots from which voters can choose today, Petrie said voters have been taking the choices in stride. He said there has been "pleasantly, surprisingly" very little confusion about it.

Bernice Lindsey, who has been working as an election worker in Ferndale for about 10 years, said she expects to have a long day – but she's looking forward to it.

"I'm a diehard," she said laughing. "I like meeting the people. That makes the day go by."

, the group that has been campaigning in favor of the proposed Ferndale school bond, were outside each polling location with "vote yes" signs.

At , 45 people had voted by about 9 a.m.

Barbara Hickner, of Ferndale, was at Roosevelt and said she thinks it's important that people vote. "Then you've done your job as a citizen," she said.

As for her vote, Hickner said it's been a tough decision. "I have struggled with the bond," she said.

Ferndale Deputy City Clerk Marne McGrath said there has been some confusion from residents in the Hazel Park school district who didn't realize they would not be voting on the school bond issue, but that otherwise there haven't been any issues this morning.

"Beyond that, everybody seems to be pretty clear on what we're voting for," McGrath said.

9 a.m.: The Michigan presidential primary has arrived. Polls officially opened at 7 a.m. For everything you need to know about voting in today's primary, .

To learn more about the school bond issue, which is also on the ballot today, visit our 2012 Ferndale School Bond Issue Topic Page.

Voting is open today until 8 p.m. at .

To stay up to date on the primary, stop over at our , where Patch editors from around Michigan will be posting photos, stories and videos from the polls all day.